New Home
by LucyRed12
Summary: Chara is tired of the same old same old. And Sans is just tired. Part 1 of the series This is Just Our Hell. In which Chara decides to find out just how much it takes to break the comedian, and exactly how low he can be brought down.
1. Selfish

"sounds strange, but before all this i was secretly hoping we could be friends. i always thought the anomaly was doing this cause they were unhappy. and when they got what they wanted, they would stop all this."

Same lines, same attacks...give the occasional grin, like he isn't as tired as he feels, give a casual wink, left eye open, like he doesn't just want to quit.

"and maybe all they needed was... i dunno. some good food, some bad laughs, some nice friends."

Keep dodging. Keep pretending like it doesn't break his heart to see that fucked up smile on the face of the kid he'd spent three years with on the surface.

"but that's ridiculous, right? yeah, you're the type of person who won't EVER be happy."

They look the opposite of unhappy, though, and Sans knows it. He _could_ comment on that, but that would be going off script. And he doesn't want to do that. Doesn't want them to know that he _can_ …

"you'll keep consuming timelines over and over, until... well. hey. take it from me, kid. someday... you gotta learn when to QUIT."

"Should I take a page from your book, Sans?" The child asks, stepping back and running their finger over the blade of their knife, smirking.

Sans freezes. Frisk doesn't talk. And they don't sound like that, either. The look in their eyes...that expression they're wearing...it's not Frisk.

"..a...a-and that day's TODAY.." Sans stammers and winces, continuing on like he can't do anything else.

"Is all this fighting tiring you out, Sans?" They interrupt him before he can say his next line, laughing at the bewildered expression on his face, "I've killed you hundreds of times already, you know. Why keep trying?"

"...i..i-if you keep pushing me... then i'll be forced to use my special attack.." Sans falters, taking a step back and narrowly missing the swipe of their knife.

They look irritated, "Honestly, Sans? Give it up - I know you're more than just a mouthpiece for lines. C'mon. _Talk_ to me."

Sans feels himself start to tremble, and for more reasons than just exhaustion. They might be bluffing. He can't risk assuming otherwise. "yeah, my special attack. sound familiar?"

"Of course, Sans." The child (not Frisk) dodges the next sweep of bone attacks sent their way with practised ease, "It's a shame Papyrus kept losing his to that dog - maybe he would have been more of a challenge. As it were, it's always so easy to just _dust him_ …"

His eyes narrow and his fists clench, "w-well...get ready. cause after the next move, i'm going to use it."

" _No_...it wouldn't happen to be you just standing around and waiting for me to quit, would it?" They smirk, hopping and ducking under his attacks, "Only for you to fall asleep like the lazybones you are, making it easy for me to kill you _again_ …"

"if you don't want to see it, now would be a good time to die." Sans delivers the line with much more venom than usual, shoulders tensing as he prepares to hit them with everything he has left. The child sees the sweat pouring down his forehead and laughs at him. They _know_ they're going to win, but they keep humoring him.

He doesn't manage to hit them even once. They giggle like an innocent kid at play as they dodge each attack perfectly, smiling at him all the while with a grin that grows wider and wider as he gets close to the end. Sans closes his eyes a moment, taking in a shaky breath as he drops his hand back to his pocket, shaking with exhaustion as he steps back, panting.

"huff... puff... all right. that's it…" He heaves in a breath, bracing his hands on his knees, "it's time for my special attack. are you ready?"

They laugh again,

"Here goes nothing!" "here goes nothing."

At the exact same time...they _know_. They know he's about to fail, _again_ …

He goes through the rest of his script in a monotone, doing his best to ignore them when they speak his lines with him, inching closer all the while even as he continues to push them back.

"but now, you've reached the end…" Again. "there is nothing left for you now." Except there _must_ be, why else would they keep coming back? "so, uh, in my personal opinion... the most "determined" thing you can do here?"

The child tilts their head with mock interest, as if they won't be hearing his idea for the god-knows-how-manyth time. "is to, uh, completely give up. and…" Sans yawns, eyes half-closing, "...do literally anything else…"

' _almost over, pal…'_ Sans assures himself as he begins to drift off, keeping them away by pushing back their SOUL for as long as he can keep himself awake, ' _they'll RESET and you'll see him again soon…'_

His eyes close completely, and he senses them stepping forward. He doesn't care. The sooner he dies the sooner he can rest.

"Sansy~" The child whispers.

In surprise he opens his eyes to look at them. They've never done this befo-

Their knife suddenly drives itself into his left socket, and he _screams_ out in pain, dropping to his knees before suddenly blacking out.

" _Wake up, Sansy."_

Sans groans as he feels himself being yanked up from the floor to his knees, wincing and shutting his blinded eye against the pain. He stares up at the kid, finding his hands tied behind his back with his own jacket.

"There you aareee~" They giggle, "You're always so busy talking during our fight that I never get a chance to introduce myself. My name is Chara." They hold out their hand, winking and snickering at his inability to reciprocate.

"...not nice to meet ya." Sans mumbles. He tries to teleport, but all this does is cause a searing burn to flare up in his magic eye, " _gh_ …"

"Not so cocky without your magic, are you?" Chara questions with an unnervingly wide smile.

He glares at them, "what do you want, kid…?"

"I just wanted to say something." They step closer, running their hand back over his skull and giggling as he yanks his head away, "Don't you want to know why I keep doing this? Killing everyone again and again and again? Aren't you curious, Sansy? Go ahead, admit it."

"...guess it's something i've wondered about." He mumbles.

They pat his head and step back, "It's because of _you_ , Sans."

His shoulders draw in as he looks up at them, saying nothing.

"All those fights I go through? All those hours spent hunting down every last monster too stupid to evacuate? I do it all for you, Sans!" They lean down so their hands are resting on their knees, and they stare at him eye to eye, "Every time you're always here, waiting for me. Your fights are the _best_ , Sans! I look forward to it every time! Why, if not for you, I might have gotten bored and given up on Genocide ages ago. But no...in spite of knowing that you'll lose, you're always here for me."

Sans feels his gut twist and he looks away, only for Chara to grab his chin and force his head back, "wh...what else was i supposed to do, huh?"

They giggle, "You could at least _try_ and stop me from killing Papyrus. From killing everyone. But you're such a lazybones, Sans...I always have to murder the entire Underground for you to be bothered to fight. You don't even avenge your brother unless I've slaughtered everyone else, too." Chara grins widely, too widely, " _Are you bored too, Sans? Are you so bored of your brother that you don't even bother trying to protect him_?"

His tied hands tighten into fists behind his back, and he glares at them, " _shut up!"_

Chara laughs hysterically, backing up and leaning over their stomach, "Is that all you have to say in your defense? 'Shut up'? Oh, Sansy...I can _see_ the guilt on your face. Why do you keep trying to hide your knowledge of the RESETS? Do you think you can fool me?" They step in closer, too close, and smile at him, "Are you scared of me, Sans? Do you keep letting me kill your brother because you're scared of what might happen to _you_ if I knew?"

Sans swallows, struggling to keep holding their gaze.

They chuckle, "I'll take that as a yes...I've known from the beginning that you're more than special, Sans. So all the time you've spent hiding in the background and watching as I dust Papyrus? It's been a selfish _waste_ \- you could have been defending him all this time. It's a good thing he doesn't know about the RESETS, isn't it? How do you think he'd feel, knowing his older brother won't help him because he's _scared_? Because he'd rather watch him die over and over than risk getting found out?"

"stop it.."

"You take my RESETS for granted, don't you, Sans? You just assume that he'll always come back, so why bother worrying? You're _selfish_ , Sans - you only ever think about yourself. You don't even really love Papyrus, do you?"

" _stop it-_!"

Chara slaps him harshly, " _You don't get it, do you?_ You're _powerless_ to ever stop me, Sans!"

The skeleton pants, shutting his eyes and tensing his shoulders to try and stop his shaking. At least he's not crying.

"But I appreciate that you try." Chara coos, patting his sore cheek and snickering at the hateful glare they receive in return, "I just wanted to let you know. Well...moving on." They brace the knife over his chest, and Sans closes his eyes, more than happy to embrace death.

"...actually.." Chara says after a moment of thought, pulling back, "I'm tired of the same old thing...I'm going to try something different. You want a break from all the death, don't you, Sans?"

He looks back up at them, "wh..what do you m-"

Chara hits him sharply over the back of the head with the hilt of their knife, and his vision goes black.


	2. Something Different

"Rise and shine Sansy~"

Sans groans, "lemme 'lone, Papyrus.."

He hears a laugh. "You idiot."

Frowning, Sans opens his eyes to see the manic smile of Chara, "...great."

"Welcome home! I have yet to redecorate, but I expect only fun times ahead... well for me at least." They say with a laugh.

"hahaha. yeah sounds great." Sans rolls back over in his bed.

They grab him by the arm, and pull him off the bed roughly.

"oof." Sans grunts, "that's a pretty rude awakening, kid."

"What's rude is ignoring someone who is talking to you." They say with a smirk.

"i'm not exactly in the mood to chat with you." Sans growls.

"Oh Sansy, you seem to not realize, it does not matter what you want."

"if you're hoping for me to give a fuck about you want, you're shit outta luck, pal." Sans pushes himself off of the floor.

"My my, what a filthy mouth~" Chara says as they kick Sans back to the ground. "Do we need the soap?"

Sans grits his teeth, "fuck off."

"Well, it seems we do~" Chara pulls out a length of rope from their inventory. "Look at this pretty rope I found while you slept. It is a lot easier to handle than your jacket, that's for sure." They kick him over onto his chest and grab at his arms.

Sans grabs their ankle and throws them off of his back, "not a chance in hell, kid."

"Oh, but this isn't hell, its much worse~" They say with a wicked grin, getting up off the floor.

"not a chance in Worse Than Hell either."

They push him over again, and make another attempt to tie his hands together. Sans kicks them sharply in the gut.

However, they shake it off quickly. "You would fight for yourself but not your brother huh?" The child says, snickering.

Sans's eyes blacken and he rolls over, grabbing their hair and slamming their head into the wall. They just continue to laugh, grabbing his hand that is in their hair, and twisting it until it snaps.

" _gah_!" Sans pulls back, gritting his teeth and glaring at them heatedly. "just cause i can't use my magic doesn't mean i'm gonna stop fightin'!"

"Unless you want more broken limbs, I suggest surrendering now. It is nothing new to you after all."

" _i never surrendered to you_!" Sans snaps, dodging a strike and hitting them over the head as they stumble past him, "and yeah - i'll probably give up after a bit. that's what i'm good at. but if you think i'm gonna quit that quick, you've got another thing coming, pal."

"Very well, but I hope you know, this is all part of the fun~" They say as they sweep their foot to knock him down.

Sans jumps, shoulders already trembling with fatigue, "you sure you don't wanna just RESET?"

"This is too much fun!" The child says in a delighted tone.

Sans huffs, finding himself back against the wall, "you really like dyin', huh?"

"Nah, the fun part is seeing you give up after trying so hard. The way the hope leaves your eyes, being replaced by despair." They snicker. "You are really pathetic."

Sans curls up his fists to hide the shaking, "you're a freak…"

"I think the word you are looking for is **N** **!** " Chara's eyes go black for a split second, and they crack up laughing at his fear.

Sans swears quietly under his breath, fists pressing back against the wall, "so if i give up then you'll RESET? fine. i give up. the end. so uh...you've won, how about we celebrate by starting over again, huh?"

Chara laughs. "Once you give up, I'll just continue to torture you. You will beg for mercy every hour of the rest of our lives." The child grins.

"you've got some real deep issues, kid…"

"So do you. You witnessed the genocide of your entire race, and did _nothing_ except offer a small challenge at the end, after everyone was already dead."

"i didn't cause the genocide at least. i didn't murder my family and friends for _fun_ …"

"Only true sickos watch it happen. If you weren't going to stop me, you could have at least helped me."

"right. obviously. no thanks."

The Child laughs. "Don't sound so eager."

"don't sound so psychopathic."

They shrug and aim a kick at his knee. Sans sidesteps, retaliating with a punch aimed at their gut. He probably should have actually paid attention at Undyne's training sessions. They block, twisting his arm until it snaps.

" _GAH_!" Sans collapses to his knees, holding the broken limb and shutting his eyes, breathing heavily through his teeth. "h-hff.." How is this not killing him? His H.P has only taken a hit of about 0.25.

"I see you checking your stats - you are probably wondering how you aren't dead. Well, I have done a bit of research, you see, and I discovered that intent is key when attacking. So long as I have no desire to really kill you, I can hurt you for much longer before you turn to dust."

Sans groans, opening his eyes to glare up at them, "you know you're the absolute worst, right?"

They giggle. "Yep,I know~" Chara says as they force him onto his chest once again, and this time successfully tying his wrists behind his back.

" _gah!_ watch it!" He snaps at them, wincing at the sharp pain the binds bring to his broken arm.

"Ooohh, I am sorry, did that hurt?" They coo mockingly. "Here, let me help you up" they grab him roughly by his injured arm, and throw him against the wall. "Feel better?"

Sans grits his teeth to keep from crying out in pain, digging his heels into the floor and glaring up at them. ' _sadistic little_ _ **freak**_ …'

"Oh, that reminds me, I have some unfinished business. You see, there are still monsters who escaped, and they are hiding. I need to go hunting~" They say, giggling. "Also, I am going to have to break your legs so you can't run away while I am gone."

Sans gives them a hateful grin, "sure thing, pal. c'mhere and get right to it." He sits back, kicking out and hitting them _hard_ in the face with the heel of his foot. The sight of blood spattering from their nose and mouth is deeply satisfying.

They just grin in response, grabbing his arm and twisting it sharply. Sans swears at the pain, shaking his head to get himself through it before spitting at them. It's unnerving to see them smile through all that blood on their face ( _Frisk's_ face, where's Frisk what happened to _Frisk_?), and he's doing a poor job of masking how unsettled it makes him to see the body of his friend being hurt. They dodge his spit, giggling, and they sit on one of his legs, pinning it while they grab his other.

Sans fights as best he can, but the pain of his arm, coupled with being tied and still exhausted, makes his efforts pathetic. They bend his leg slowly, taking their time. It is a full minute of slowly increasing pain until his leg gives out and snaps. He figures it's fair enough to let himself scream - to hell with dignity by silence at this point. Broken limbs aren't exactly something that's easy to shrug off. He's sweating heavily by the time they've repeated the process with his other leg, leaving him completely crippled.

"Farewell for now Sansy, see you in a few~" They laugh as they leave the room.

He watches them go, shaking and breathing heavily in an effort to recover from the air lost through screaming. His eyes close and he rests his head back against the floor.

This...is going to be a lot more difficult than he thought.


	3. Just Tapping the Surface

He lays where he is, unable to move without his injuries crying out in protest for hours.

"ugh...Potassium, K, uh...shit. 20? man i'm rusty…" Sans sighs, "Hydrogen, H, 1...positive charge...wait. no that's just ionic state.. "

He hears the front door open.

"Sansy, I'm hooome~"

The skeleton groans and leans his head back, sighing and shutting his eyes "great."

"And I brought ramen!" He hears them coming up the stairs.

"...okay…?"

They enter the room. They are covered in dust and bits of blood, and they are grinning. "Which means it's dinnertime! Get up unless you want to starve~" They say cheerfully as they grab his arm and hoist him to his feet, dragging him out of the room.

" _gah_ _ **shit**_ _watch it my legs are_ _ **broken**_ _you psychopath_!"

"That reminds me, I need to wash that filthy mouth of yours~" They throw him to the floor and head into the bathroom.

"are you _serious_."

They come out with a bar of soap. "Open wiiiide~"

Sans narrows his eyes at them, "you're the one that needs soap, kid. have you looked at yourself at all? you're filthy."

They shove the soap into his mouth as he talks, and they force his jaw closed so he can't spit it out. "I can worry about that later~"

Sans shuts his eyes tightly, choking and forcing down the bitter chalk, coughing and gagging when Chara removes their hands from his mouth. Idly he notes that his H.P has risen by 0.2, and feels his arm heal up.

' _...thanks for buying organic soap, Paps. get vanilla flavored next time, maybe?'_

Chara grins. "Hopefully you've learned your lesson about swearing. Now come along, its time to eat." They force him to his feet again, and drags him down the stairs. They drop him halfway down and cackle as he falls helplessly. Sans cries out as he tumbles down, hitting the floor and rolling forward a bit.

"guh.." Sans shuts one eye, staring dizzily at the ceiling.

"You make that look fun" The child says with a giggle, stepping down to catch up to him. They lift him to his feet once more, and drags him to the table, and shoves him onto the chair. "Now, to make dinner~"

"yeah you go ahead and do that." Sans mumbles, wincing and shutting his blinded eye.

Four minutes later and Chara places two bowls on the table next to each other, then they sit next to him. "Hungry Sansy?" They ask as they take a bite of their own food.

He eyes them suspiciously, "uh. no." He grimaces and turns his head away, gagging as dust falls onto the food that they're eating, "i wish i could throw up."

"Well, too bad~" They say as they pry his mouth open with their fork, and shoving a mouthful of his food into his mouth. "Eat up~"

Sans coughs, shutting his eyes and swallowing, "your cooking could use some work." He says, inwardly rolling his eyes at himself for making such a childish insult.

"We have all the time in the world to make that happen, though, it may have been contaminated a bit" They say, chuckling as they rub their fingers together, allowing some of the dust to fall into his bowl.

He immediately scoots back, "nnnope."

"Yep!" They say, grinning as they pry open his mouth again, and force another bite into his mouth. Sans spits it out onto the floor, shaking his head and looking sick. "Tsk tsk. Don't you know there are starving kids on the surface who would kill to have some of that?" They mock as they get up, wrapping the fallen noodles around the fork, and prying his mouth open once again. "You will eat all of your food~" They shove the food in, then hold his jaw shut. "Now swallow."

Sans pretends, and then immediately spits the food back into Chara's face when they release him, gritting his teeth, "i'm not playing games with you, kid. _RESET_. this joke is getting old."

"Make me." They taunt with a smirk, forcing his jaw open once again, and reclaiming the spat up food from the floor. "I can do this for all eternity~" They shove the noodles back into his mouth. But not before Sans manages to bite down hard on their finger.

"Ow! That wasn't very nice Sansy. We are going to stay here until you eat all of your food, so you might as well get it over with." They say as they tap the empty fork on his teeth.

Sans keeps his jaw locked tightly. Chara can't pry his mouth open again - he's more DETERMINED to _not_ eat monster dust than Chara is to feed it to him. They're at a stalemate, and this frustrates the child very quickly.

"Well then, if you are going to be stubborn, then you will starve. Although, I wonder if I can put the food into your eye sockets. You are a skeleton after all, and it could just fall from your head to your throat. What do you think? Should I try it?"

Sans just snorts. He has to admit he's a little curious about that too. But it'd probably just...be in his eye.

"I will take that as a yes." The child says as they shove a forkful roughly into his eye. Sans jerks his head back, blinking and staring at them awkwardly with noodles hanging from his socket.

"...uh."

The child laughs. "Well, that didn't go how I expected. Still, at least I know now." They get the noodles out of his eye, and while he is off guard, swiftly yanks his mouth open, almost breaking his jaw, and his mouth is forced shut before he can spit it out.

" _khk!_ " Sans thrashes his head, already pale skull turning paler as he feels the dust in his mouth. He looks ready to vomit. They hold his head in place, keeping his jaw shut. Sans closes his eyes, and in spite of his efforts he begins to tremble, "gh…"

"You are just torturing yourself by making this go on longer than it should~"

Right. Obviously he should just swallow the remains of dead monsters without a fuss. It's not that he's trying to avoid torturing himself - it's the repulsive thought of dust being absorbed into his SOUL.

"Come on Sansy, you can do it~"

' _fuck you, kid.'_ The taste of dust is starting to make him feel more nauseous than he's ever been in his life.

"Looking a little green there Sansy, better to just get it over with."

Sans shuts his eyes and he swallows.

Chara holds his mouth shut, and it isn't until he gives a disgusted shiver that they let go. "There, was that so bad?"

He bends over his waist, coughing and giving a weak attempt at throwing up. But he's already absorbed it. _God_...he probably knew the monster that that dust belonged to. This is...this is so fucked up…

Sans turns his head away as Chara tries to feed him another forkful, "k-kid, please-"

"My name is Chara." They remind.

" _Chara_ , please, this is...this is sick…"

"Your point?" They ask, smiling.

"don't make me do this."

"Are you telling me what to do know? Because you don't seem to be in that kind of position." They mock with a smirk, holding up the next bite insistently.

"p...p-please, don't…" Sans closes his eyes tightly, drawing in his shoulders, "a..a-anything else, just not this.."

"I will force your mouth open again." They warn, waving the fork in front of his teeth.

"wh...why are you doing this?" Sans looks at them, eyes filled with confusion, "not asking about me. i don't really care about why you're doin' this to _me_ , but...Tori, Paps, Undyne and Alphys and MK and... _everyone_...what'd they ever do wrong to you..?"

"This is not about them, this is about you." They shove the bite into his mouth as he opens up to speak again.

Sans chokes down the bite, "wh-who _are you_? a-and...and what did you do to Frisk?!"

They shove another bite into his mouth. "Haven't you heard the stories?"

The skeleton stays more hunched over as the sickening process of being force-fed dust starts to drastically weaken his psyche, "the last... _years_ of my life have been...nothin' but RESETS...of the same thing...over and over...so if i ever _did_ , then i've forgotten…"

"Once upon a time, a human fell into the underground. Injured by their fall, they called out for help. The prince found them, and took them home. The the two became like siblings, until the human fell ill and died. The prince absorbed their soul to take them to the surface to see their beloved golden flowers one last time, then the humans attacked. Instead of fighting back, the prince went home, and died in the garden." The child recites, almost monotone.

Sans can sense there are missing details that only they knew. "...so, you mean...you're talking about Asriel Dreemurr, right..?"

"Yes, he was the prince." They say as they shove another bite into his mouth.

He forces the bite down, focusing on the conversation to try and keep his sanity intact, "so then you're...you're the human that fell…? the first human…?"

"Correct." They shove another bite into his mouth. "Except I didn't fall, and I didn't fall ill."

Sans is starting to feel his mind growing distant, "..hf...m..might as well just...give me the whole story if you're...gonna be droppin' hints like that...don'tcha think…?"

"Suicide." They say with a grin. "Hey, it's too early for you to be falling asleep, you haven't finished your ramen."

"i'm not falling asleep." ' _just gonna faint is all.'_

"Well, quit being a baby then. Finish your ramen." They say as they shove in another forkful.

One more bite. Sans breathes in steadily, choking down the last bit. His eyes roll back and he blacks out.


	4. Attempt 1

**_A/N: A moment of your time._**

 ** _I know that you have barely heard from me (Lucy Red) at all since I started posting pain, and I feel like that is hardly fair. On my other sites I post a good amount of commentary, and interact with my readers a lot more. However, on , trying to reply to a comment is a bit more obnoxiously complicated. So I have decided I will respond to your comments/questions on the story in the author's notes at the beginning of chapters._**

 ** _(if you don't want your review being read, just say so and I'll leave it be/remove it)_**

 ** _But most importantly - this is a co-authored work. It is written by me and .com. I doubt she has a FF account, but I'll pass along your reviews to her so she can be made aware of your appreciation._**

Chapter 1:

Corpse Party At Freddy's: Oh shit, I'm almost scared to read this...but I will anyway. XD

 ** _You state what we all feel. Which is a longing for the darkness. Embrace it. 8)_**

EcoReibun: scaredly exited, yes that sums up my emotions just about now.

 _ **I hope to keep that emotion going through every story with every chapter. It pleases me to hear that you are excited. 8)**_

Chapter 2:

Corpse Party At Freddy's: Oh god, this is almost worse than Merciless...

 _ **Almost worse? Oh dear...you really have no idea what's coming, do you?**_

Chapter 3:

EmeraldSeaGamer: Oh my god this is /terrible/. And I'm still /reading it/. Why am I still /READING IT/. POOR SKELEMAN. This is really well written though

 _ **Thank you kindly, friend. Sammy and I pride ourselves on our ability to write pain.**_

Corpse Party At Freddy's: I really feel squeamish about this...SO WHY am I reading it? XD

 _ **Because you enjoy the feeling of your sins crawling on your back. Also, CPAF, I especially want to show my appreciation to you, darling, for faithfully reviewing almost every chapter of every story I have posted here. You are precious to me 3 8)**_

 _ **And so there you all go. All of you feel filthy for reading and enjoying, so now you know you aren't alone. ;)**_

 ** _Here we go._**

* * *

Sans wakes up tied to the chair, and the sound of the shower running. He glances around the room in a confused state of mind as he struggles to remember the context of his situation. When he does, his sockets go black and he nearly passes out again.

Just barely he manages to stay awake..

He hears the water shut off, and a few minutes later the child comes out wearing a green and yellow sweater.

"Welcome back Sansy. You fell asleep at the table, and while you were asleep I did some tidying. And, you will never guess what I found!"

"uh...what?"

They hold up a bunch of cassette tapes. "Videos of your childhood!"

Sans's eyes widen in shock, "you found our old home tapes..?'

They nod, grinning. "Let's have a movie night!"

"...alright.."

"Only if you behave however." They say as they begin untying him from the chair.

"no more monster dust." Sans mumbles.

"I can do as I please." They say as they finish undoing the last knot.

Sans pulls his arms back in front of him, rubbing at his freshly healed legs and wincing at their tenderness. The bone is still a little soft. They gesture for him to come over, and they start fussing with the VHS player. He still has a bit of a limp, but he makes it over easily regardless, "you need any help with that?"

"It admittedly had been a while since I have tried to work one of these."

"well it's old tech." Sans kneels down in front of the TV, taking the tape and slipping it in, "just kinda gotta fiddle with this one a bit..."

"I see."

"here we go." Sans gives the VCR a light smack and the screen flares to life, buzzing loudly with static for a second before the tape starts playing.

Chara snickers. Sans looks back at them suspiciously before resting in a squatting position and watching the screen.

" _IS IT WORKING?!"_

" _i dunno Paps. is it?"_

" _THAT'S NOT HELPFUL, SANS!"_

 _The camera is pointed at the snowy ground and shakes around for a bit. There's the sound of footsteps, and then the toes of Sans's slippers can be seen,_ " _alright lemme have a look."_ _There's shifting and then the image steadies and points at Papyrus,_ " _yep, it's workin'."_

" _EXCELLENT! MAKES SURE YOU GET ALL OF IT IN THE PICTURE!"_

" _yep."_ _Sans steps back, and Papyrus poses dramatically with his shiny new outfit._ " _so uh, this is Pap's 'Battle Body'...took about two weeks to make and uh...it's all done, finally."_

" _SANS WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?"_

" _dramatic background narration, bro."_

" _OH I SEE! CONTINUE, THEN!"_

"Are all of these just you and Papyrus?" They ask curiously.

"yeah? who else?"

Chara shrugs, and continues watching. Sans glances at them from time to time, confused but mostly suspicious. Why are they just casually watching these goofy tapes of him and Papyrus being nonsensical? He considers their question, and reluctantly lets himself believe that they are just curious.

The child leans against the arm of the couch, eyes glued to the screen for a couple minutes before they eventually fall asleep, having put strain on Frisk's body without rest for days. Glancing over, Sans notes their unconsciousness and cautiously waves a hand in front of their face. Now's his chance.

Sans tests his legs, finding the bone appropriately hardened, and stands up. He slips out the door, grabs a few items from the store, and trots away quickly in the direction of Hotland.

Chara wakes up a few minutes later with a start. They blink looking round. "Shit!" They look for Sans. "Sans!?" They check the house, but he is long gone. "I guess a little game of hide and seek could mix things up a bit. Ready or not, here I come~" They leave the house, and begin their hunt.

At this point, Sans knows that the kid (the adopted child of Tori and Asgore apparently?) will be familiar with every nook and cranny in the Underground. So there's really nowhere to hide. He just has to stay on the run until they get frustrated and RESET. Or something. Sans knows that Chara hasn't saved for a while. He would have felt it. He assumes that they wouldn't want to have to go through the trouble of hunting down every last refuge again, or at least he hopes so.

He stops to lean against the wall of the entrance to Tem Village, eating a cinnabun to recharge his energy. Damn. He would really love to have his shortcuts back right about now - Sans knows he is _not_ made for endurance running.

Dusting away his footprints in the dirt (he _knows_ that Chara is a ruthless hunter), Sans hops behind the counter of the shop and sits down in the darker corner, catching his breath. He probably should have come up with a _real_ plan...

Chara laughs at his attempts to hide his tracks, the disturbed areas scream life. Still, he has definitely gone far.

After five minutes Sans forces himself back to his feet, having a haphazard goal in mind this time. Get to the Lab, see if he can't find a way to heal up his eye. Having his magic back will be a major table turner, if he can manage it.

Moving silently, Sans creeps back out of the village, well aware that Chara is most likely on his tail by now.

Chara hums to themselves as they enter Waterfall. They are getting closer. The thrill of the hunt - how exciting. They breeze past the Tem village, knowing it was most likely a pit stop, and make their way to Hotland. Their grin stretches - he is running out of places to go to.

Sans steps into Hotland, shedding his jacket and tying it around his waist as the heat hits him. Undyne rarely assigned him to the sentry post here, since the heat was almost always more than enough to make him fall asleep at the drop of a hat. He stops at the water cooler to get a drink, crumpling up the cup and throwing it into the lava before hurrying on. The kid doesn't mess around when it comes to hide and seek. Sans sees the lab in the distance and gives a relieved sigh, eating half a bisicle and starting to jog.

Chara made sure to drink the water as they entered Hotland. They wouldn't want to faint during their search for Sans. They giggle as they continue on, the anticipation making them giddy.

Sans lays his hand on the door of the lab, opening it and switching on the lights. He barricades the door, and quickly finds himself digging through the piles of noodle bowls and anime DVDs to find actual lab equipment to work with, sighing. "c'mon, Alph...i know ya messed up but that doesn't mean ya had to stop workin' on actual science.."

He hears a knock at the lab door. "Sansyyy...I know you are thereeee...come out and play~" They giggle.

The skeleton winces one eye, looking around for something to defend himself with. "yeah, sure. on my way." Sans picks up a plastic knife and frowns, sighing before dropping it to the floor.

This is going to be a very long day…


	5. You'll Regret This in So Many Ways

"I know other ways around Sansy, you might as well give up now~"

"and, uh, why should i do that, huh?"

"Why shouldn't you? Running away again would only be delaying the inevitable~"

"which is what, exactly?"

"Use your imagination Sansy, I know you have one." They say, giggling.

"well, you're kind've a freak, so it's not that i can't think of any possibilities - the problem is narrowing it down…" He holds still, listening carefully for the sound of their voice.

"Well Sansy, I will just have to give you to the count of five to open the door before I come to get you. There are many shortcuts into the lab after all. One, Two..."

Sans starts walking towards the door. But his footsteps stay silent.

"Three, four, five. Well Sansy, you have forced my hand. Your punishment shall be severe~" Their footsteps recede.

' _wait for it.'_ Sans holds still, listening for the direction of their entrance, tensing up as he times his run. Their footsteps grow silent. Sans braces his back against the door, waiting to hear where they are entering from. He's not moving until he's sure that Chara isn't lurking behind the exit.

It takes a few minutes for Chara to realize that he isn't going to fall for the 'behind the door' trick. Still, he must be waiting at the ready at the same exit. Meaning it is probably unlocked, uncovered, and ready for Sans to run out of. Chara keeps from giggling, and gently tests the door.

Sans slams his hand against it, blocking them out. "you're pretty predictable, kid."

"Am I really?" They say as with the help of their LV given strength, they slam against the door, causing one of the hinges to break. Their arm is going to have a nasty bruise, but it will be worth it.

"holy shit.." Sans starts looking around desperately for some sort of escape as he struggles to hold the door closed.

They slam against it again, and another hinge breaks, and the door starts to give. Sans feels himself start to sweat. He waits until he can feel the kid pushing against it hard before abruptly stepping back, letting them fall to the floor and leaping over them. He sprints away desperately back towards Waterfall, panting and wide-eyed with fear.

They get back up to their feet, laughing, and they sprint towards him, catching up way too quickly. Sans dodges their arm and knife, pulling back his shoulders and putting every ounce of concentration into avoiding their strikes.

"Are you tired already? Don't tell me this is going to be a quick fight?" They taunt.

"hff...i'm always tired, kid." Sans huffs, ducking under their knife as they swing and jumping back, heels skimming the edge of the cliff. He glances over his shoulder at the lava below and only half-heartedly contemplates moving away to safer ground before dodging past them. They move to the wider area in front of the lab. Chara is practically dancing circles around him. With their next lunge, their knife nicks his arm, taking his hp to .5. They laugh as they see his stat go down.

" _gah!"_ Sans falls onto one knee, grabbing the injury and shutting his eyes tightly at the pain.

Chara pushes him face first to the ground, tying his wrists behind his back. Sans struggles for maybe half a second before giving up, staring at the dirt and sighing silently. They pull him to his feet, and start dragging him back to Snowdin. It's an awkward walk to say the least.

"I think a night in the cupboard will be an excellent punishment." They taunt as they enter his house, and start dragging him into the kitchen.

"right. just so you know, if an owl stops by and drops a letter, it's for me."

"There is no one left to send a letter." Chara says as they shove him into the small cupboard.

Sans just grins at them, "heheh. you're killing me, kid." He grunts as his knees are forced against his forehead in the tight space. He shifts uncomfortably, grimacing.

"Have a wonderful night~" They say in mock politeness, then they shut the door.

"you too." He mumbles under his breath, shutting his eyes and at least trying to get some sleep.

The next morning, he wakes to the smell of breakfast foods. So it seems he did get some sleep after all. Not without consequences, though. He groans at the soreness of his bones, shutting his eyes tightly. "agh..fuck.."

"Language Sansy~" He hears them chuckle.

His response is a mutter that sounds vaguely like the word 'sorry'. The child hums a response, and makes their way out of the kitchen.

"how long am i supposed to be in here, huh?"

"Talking will only lengthen your sentence~" The child calls out.

"oh c'mon...you go through all this trouble to make it just the two of us and i'm not even allowed to talk?"

"You are being punished."

Sans grins, " _pun_ ished, eh?"

"It seems you are in no hurry to get out." the child says amused.

"why would i be?"

"Comfortable already? My are you adaptable~"

"beats bein' out there with you, freak."

"If you say so~" they say, chuckling.

Sans shakes his head, shuffling a bit and grunting as he tries to get into a more comfortable position.

Time ticks by. He can hear Chara shuffling about occasionally, and eventually he can hear them breathing slowly and deeply. They must have fallen asleep on the couch.

He should nudge his way out of the cabinet. He should hurry away quietly and head back for the lab. He should struggle his way out of the ropes and go back to fighting them endlessly. He should keep trying and trying and trying and never give up.

Sans stares down, slowly closing his eyes and giving a shaky sigh. Yeah, so then he wins and they RESET. He gets to watch them destroy everyone again. He gets to continue fighting them again and again until they quit or kill him. And then the cycle can restart.

' _yeah. one hell of a victory that'd be, pal. win the battle, keep losing the war.'_

He hates himself for giving in to apathy and laziness, but in the end he just goes back to sleep.

"Sansy, time to wake uuup~"

"mph." Sans opens one eye, glancing at the cabinet door.

He is suddenly blinded as the cabinet opens. "Come on out~"

"ow." Reluctantly he rolls out onto the floor, hissing in pain as he forces his tense bones to stretch out, "ow ow ow ow…"

"Come on, get up. It is time for a walk~"

"a _walk_..?"

"Come along. We have to get all that pent up energy out of you somehow~"

Sans snorts, "aha. yeah. ball fulla energy. that's me. no thanks."

"Are you telling me no?"

"have i ever told you anything else, kid? 'no don't stab the froggit', 'no don't keep skipping puzzles' 'no stop murdering everyone' 'no stop trying to get past me' 'no don't keep going' blah blah blah, stop no stop no...kinda my mantra summed up into two words." He opens his good eye, "i've got a reputation to upload here."

The narrow their eyes at him for a moment, before smirking. "Fine, I'll just destroy those tapes." They say, pushing him to the floor and walking into the living room.

Immediately Sans is on his feet, and even faster he's got Chara tackled and pinned, knocking the knife out of their hand and locking his fingers around their neck, "heh. kid. _Don't touch my stuff._ "

"I...see...you got..gck.. free of the... ropes." They choke out, grinning.

"yeah it's amazing what a little motivation can do." And a self-broken forearm that hurt like _shit_ but the sweat on his face and the pained grimace can be mistake for anger if he glares hard enough.

"So... gonna...gck kill... me?" They rasp, and make a noise that sounds like a chuckle.

"what else am i good at?" Sans growls, tightening his grip, "yeah, i know you're just gonna reload. but, uh….it's worth it."

They gag as their chest desperately convulses, spasming as they try to fight for air. Through it all they keep their smirk, and after a few minutes, their hp hits 0.

And he wakes up tied to the kitchen chair. He gives a weak grin, shaking his head at himself. "you're a 'boneified' idiot, Sans…"

He feels the chair yank back, and it is dragged out into the living room. "So Sansy, which tape should we start with?"

"i was assumin' the one we've already watched." He sighs, grimacing and rolling his shoulders back. At least there's none of that awful soreness from being stuffed in the cupboard.

"Very well." They say, picking it up from the pile. Then, they slam it onto the ground, watching as it bounces, plastic chips flying from it.

Sans winces, watching and saying nothing.

They smash it to pieces, then they start stringing the film around him. Skipping around like they are decorating the Snowdin tree.

"...uh. i'm….hm. not sure how to react to this." Sans squints at them, "i mean. i know you're already crazy so i guess i shouldn't be surprised. but." Sans shuts one eye as the tape wraps around his forehead, "...this is a really weird thing to do, kid."

"I'm a kid. I am allowed to have fun." They say with a snicker.

"you're a self-proclaimed 'demon'." Sans corrects, narrowing his eye at them.

"What can I say? Tis in my soul.'

"'tis weird to say 'tis." He mumbles, rolling his eyes, "what...how can you have been raised by Tori and Asgore? i don't get it."

"Bluh, a tale full of pain, love, betrayal, and rotting. Let us leave sleeping dogs to die~" they say dramatically, then giggling. Their LV rush is keeping them wired.

"sleeping dogs _lie_. it's sleeping dogs lie. stop trying to make everything morbid."

They laugh. "You are _such_ an idiot Sansy."

"yeah yeah yeah...what else is new." He grumbles, shaking his head so that the film falls to his neck instead of blocking his line of vision. "so now what, huh?"

"You stay where you are, I do what I want~" They say, giggling

"so long as i don't have to move."

"Fair enough."

Sans swings his legs a bit, watching his toes and keeping his eyes down as Chara just stares at him, grinning. He tries not to let it show how uneasy they're making him.

"Am I making you anxious?" They ask, highly amused just watching his reactions to their staring.

"you're creepin' me out, but that's nothing new."

They snicker. "Welp, I am hungry." They say as they jump off the couch and head into the kitchen.

Sans breathes out a quiet sigh of relief as they leave the room, letting his chin drop a bit.

They come out of the kitchen with a single bowl of noodles. "Mmmm~" They hum meaningfully, sitting on the couch and starting to eat.

"...lemme guess. i'm not gonna get to eat for a while."

"Nope~"

Sans sighs, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. ' _boneified idiot.'_


	6. 2nd and Last Attempt

The next two days pass mostly uneventfully. Sometimes they watch a video, other times Chara leaves the house to wander. One thing remains though, Sans is still stuck to the chair, and they still haven't fed him. Needless to say, he's becoming a bit grumpy and difficult to converse with. So much so, that, after a particularly harsh argument over nothing, Chara storms from the house with a huff, forgetting to reinforce the ropes for the day. Sans wouldn't have even noticed if he hadn't had his fists clenched in anger. But he wastes no time getting himself free once he realizes the opportunity.

Sans shakes off the ropes, wincing as he steps over smashed and ripped pieces of his and Papyrus's tapes. He tries to tell himself that it doesn't matter too much - they'll be back once Chara inevitably RESETS. But it still makes him a bit angry.

He easily blames that on the hunger.

His immediate destination is the pantry, going for the stash of ketchup he keeps hidden in the back panel (Papyrus would always give him a long lecture if he ever found more than one bottle in the house at a time) and downing about three before he feels energy starting to come back to him. Sans breaths out a sigh of relief, wiping his mouth on his sleeve and glancing at the front door. They could be back any minute, but judging from how much he'd pissed them off (and how sore his eye is as a result) it won't be for a bit.

So, he may as well go for the Lab again...although not a direct route. That'll be where Chara expects him to be, so he has to figure out a roundabout path. He could go to Waterfall first...there's one part of the trek where the ground cuts off into a sharp drop. It's a favorite spot among a lot of monsters - it's got a pretty awesome view of the Castle and New Home in the distance. The drop is a steep one, but Sans thinks he can manage it. After making it down that, then it's just a super safe walk through a field of sharp rocks that goes for about four miles before reaching New Home.

Sans groans inwardly, going upstairs and switching into some sneakers before hopping out the back window and making his way down the path by the river.

Chara returns from the west side of Snowdin, to find footprints littering the snow. They run inside to have their suspicions confirmed. Technically they can reload... but where is the fun in that? They smirk to themselves. Hide and seek round two commences.

Sans's tennis shoes splash through the puddles as he keeps up a hurried trot through Waterfall. He can see the area up ahead where the cave wall splits away to show the panorama of the distant castle. Before making his descent, he leaves footprints (not too obvious ones) and walks further down the cave before stopping in front of a large puddle. Dropping the umbrella, he carefully steps backwards, staying exactly in his prints to point Chara in the wrong direction.

Who knows. It might actually work for a minute.

Pulling up the hoodie of his jacket, Sans braces himself, and then hops off the ledge, shielding his face and shutting his eyes as he slides quickly down the mountainside. At one point he starts rolling, and he's fairly certain that, by the time he finally reaches the ground and rolls to a stop, he's knocked himself in the head several times and blacked out.

Luckily he's more than well aware of his 1 H.P, and stocked up on some more store items before leaving. The cinnabun he pulls from his pocket is slightly muddy and gross, but he chokes it down anyway and gives a sigh of relief as he feels the deep bruises in his bones heal over and renew his energy.

Sans brushes himself off, and then hurries on his way through the dark, flat field of sharp stones. The castle is just bright enough to see through the foggy haze.

He's just _vanished_. Chara gave a huff of frustration. They walk the area several times, looking over the cliff and back over to the puddle. "I swear if he killed himself..." Chara begins, but interrupts themselves when they catch a glimpse of the bottom of the cliff from their new angle. A survivable fall...how fascinating.

Sans rests his hands on his knees for a moment, shutting his eyes and panting. If there was only one reason for him to get his magic back, it's so he can shortcut again. He is not an athlete and even adrenaline only takes him so far. Reluctantly he sits down, shifting through and finding a particularly sharp rock. Maybe if he can just knock the kid out…?

' _only for them to RESET when they wake up…'_

But so long as it's enough time for him to figure out a way to heal his eye, then…

' _then they'll reload a SAVE point and you'll be powerless again.'_

Closing his eyes, Sans rests his elbows on his knees and puts his face in his hands. What is he doing…?

Survivable, sure, but not without injury. Chara, despite being good at dodging, is shit at falling. Luckily, their ankle is only twisted by the time they hit flat ground, the muscles damaged but the bone in tact. If it _was_ the bone, then things would be difficult. Still, they have a slight limp as they continue their hunt. To their surprise (and slight disappointment), they find Sans just sitting amongst the rocks. At first they assume he's fallen asleep and doesn't know that they're there. But then he looks up, meets their eyes, and then just gives a sigh and looks back down.

"Looks like you've hit rock bottom." Chara says with a smirk.

"ha ha…"

"So Sansy? Why the resignation? You didn't even hide!"

"what's the point." He says flatly. "no matter what i do, we end back where we started. on _your_ terms, too, which is just hilarious. you're stronger than me, and more DETERMINED by a long shot, and you're gonna get what you want." Sans gives a loose shrug. "you're probably gonna start starving me all over again when you drag me back. i mean...what good am i doing myself by running? temporary relief, maybe, but that's it. i'm just providing you with more entertainment, if anythin', by being difficult." Shrugging again, Sans sighs silently and idly picks at the laces on his shoes. Why did he even try? Sans, the lazybones skeleton that'd rather take a nap and hide behind a script than protect his brother, actually fighting back?

Ha. This is probably his best joke yet. And the only other person that could possibly appreciate it is standing right in front of him and grinning. Life's little miracles are just so fucking beautiful and hilariously cruel...

The child snickers. "Tell me something I _don't_ know. Shall we head back?"

Giving a weary nod, Sans stands up, putting his hands in his pockets. "yeah, sure. why not."

"Seriously though, I have not been this way before, how do we get back?" The child says, glancing at the cliff above them.

Sans turns back to face the castle. "this way." He says as he starts walking.

Chara follows, looking around and taking in the route. Who knows, they might need this again. Not that Sans will be escaping again...they are confident that he'll behave - the punishment that is going to follow will be more than enough to ensure that. Having him realize his complete lack of control and slipping into despair is just icing on the cake...

"So, if you know about the resets, why did you say the same things over and over? Like seriously, I memorized your stupid speech long ago. Frankly it is why I got bored so fast." The child says with a smirk.

"you already know why." Sans mumbles.

"And why is that? Because you wanted to watch as your friends and brother turned to dust millions of times?"

"you already know why." He repeats, voice tighter as his hands curl up into fists inside his pockets.

The child snickers. "Because you get some sick pleasure from it? Next you are going to tell me you enjoyed those dust covered noodles~"

" _stop_." In spite of his efforts, his voice shakes, and Chara can tell that there's a genuine plea hidden in his tone.

"And not a single word of denial. Geeze Sans I was only joking. I didn't actually think it was true... till now." The child snickers.

"you know it's not true. i'm not...i'm not gonna humor you by arguing."

"I dunno Sansy, your words say one thing, your actions say another~"

"if i'd known that you already knew i could go off script then i would've done it.."

"Ahuh, sure. Face it Sans. You get a sick pleasure from it. I bet that is why you want me to reset again, so you can watch it all happen over and over~."

"i want you to RESET so i can see my brother and friends again. yeah, it's selfish, but that's the only thing i have to look forward to anymore." Sans rubs at his forehead a moment, breathing out and closing his eyes for a second, "...anyway...why...why wouldn't _you_ want to now, huh? now that...now that i've got nothing to hide, i can go off script all i want. that'd be new, right? a challenge? that's what you want, right?"

"Pshhh, I have grown bored of everyone's scripts, this is more new and exciting!"

"yeah. real thrill ride."

They laugh. "So, what is it like making jokes when you know everyone is about to die?"

"like trying not to suffocate. it's the one thing i can do to cheer myself up."

"Even though you told the joke a million times?"

"yep."

The child merely snickers. "You are so pathetic."

"yeeep."

"Surely you get tired of the same jokes."

"you don't get tired of killing - why can't i stay entertained by my own thing?"

"You don't feel yourself get stronger every time you tell the same joke."

If anything, it's the opposite. Sans turns his head towards the ground, staying silent. He's got nothing else to say.

"Sansy, as fascinating as the ground is, you need to get us back to Snowdin."

"..it's just a straight shot for another couple of miles, kid…"

" _Miles_!? Damn Sansy, you sure know how to pick your hiding spots."

"i'm the laziest thing to exist and i'm not complaining. but the psycho kid that walked around endlessly to find monsters to dust is going to whine about a little exercise. wow. yeah this is definitely something incredibly new and exciting." He deadpans.

Chara glares at him. "It's not the exercise, it's how long it will take."

"yeah we're real short on time, huh. you gotta be back in time for dinner with Tori and Asgore. you got school tomorrow and your bedtime is at 8pm…"

"Hmm, something seems wrong about what you said..." They say with equal sarcasm. "Oh! Thats right, everybody is dead!" the child laughs.

"yeah. that's it. that's the joke. you got it. everyone's…" Sans pauses a moment, pretending to pick something off of his jacket while he takes a moment to steady his voice, "everyone's dead."

"Especially since you let them all die." The child says with a grin.

Sans's jaw stiffens a bit, but other than that, he doesn't react. His expression stays neutral, much to Chara's frustration.

They give a small huff, but keep going. "Too lazy to even try to protect your brother, or your friends. Heh, Papyrus thought he could convince me not to kill. It's a shame his brain is too small to ever comprehend the-"

"shhshhshh…" Sans stops, closing his eyes and holding up a hand, "you hear that?"

Chara hesitates, listening for a moment before turning to him. "I don't hear anything."

"shhhhhhh….listen closer…"

They shoot him an annoyed look. "What if I don't want to?"

"then you'll miss it."

They fall silent again, listening. They wait a bit longer before looking at him even more annoyed. "I don't hear anything."

"exactly." He opens his eyes and grins at them, "isn't it beautiful?"

"I happen to enjoy my voice thank you very much."

"it's a sad symphony."

"What is a symphony?"

"...i'm tired of talking."

"In a bad mood Sansy?" they say with a snicker.

"yeah. kinda."

"Tis your fault you know. To think all of this could have been avoided."

"mhm."

"So how much longer do we have to go?"

Sans shrugs.

"Tch." Chara crosses their arms, rolling their eyes. "You know, you are just being stubborn."

Sans snorts, "you're being an idiot. i figured you _wanted_ to go for a nice long walk over pointy stones, since you haven't just, i dunno, reloaded a SAVE where we're already back home?"

"You are only saying that because you would rather be tied to a chair than walking all the way back home."

"i'm not the one complaining every step of the way."

"I only complained twice!" The child defends.

"well, the way i see it, is that when we get back to Snowdin you're just gonna tie me up again, so this is me gettin' a chance to stretch my legs."

"Maybe I _should_ just reload my SAVE, then!"

He shrugs again.

Clenching their fists, Chara gives a frustrated huff. It's clear that this walk is going to be frustratingly silent. They _could_ just reload...but they need the time to think.

It's about time they made this comedian cry.


	7. Kind of an Idiot

They're both exhausted by the time they reach Snowdin.

Sans doesn't even resist when Chara does the expected and ties him to the chair, and they fall immediately on the couch to sleep. He sighs, shifting his body to make himself as comfortable as possible. He's obviously in this for the long haul - might as well learn how to sleep in uncomfortable positions. His chin drops to his collar and he stares at the floor.

' _can't believe you just gave up…'_

Sans winces against the self-deprecating thoughts that he knew would inevitably start plaguing him. Of course with perfect silence and nothing to focus on except how tired and sore his legs are, it's hard to ignore.

' _there's_ _ **nothing**_ _i can do here,_ _ **nothing**_ …'

' _completely_ _ **useless**_ _didn't even try…'_

"stop it." Sans mumbles to himself, rolling back his shoulders and wincing. "just get some damn sleep…" He closes his eyes, making up and solving complex equations in his head until he finally falls unconscious.

"But I don't want to~" Chara's voice says loudly in his ear, waking him up.

Sans jolts his head back, gasping for a second before giving a groan and shutting his eyes again, "i wasn't even talking to you, kid."

"So you are talking to yourself huh? That's kinda crazy."

"that's a harsh judgment to make, kid."

"Is that so?"

"weren't you just asleep? aren't you trying to recover from our little hike?"

"I'm too awake to sleep. It's my legs that are tired."

"yeah alright well i'm _not_ too awake and i'd like to sleep so if you don't mind-"

"You don't need sleep. You have slept enough on your own while I was off killing everyone. "The child says, giggling.

"you can't stockpile sleep hours. i'm tired and i'm gonna sleep." Sans says stubbornly.

"Who says I'm gonna let you?"

"...c-c'mon, kid...break my legs and arms but don't...don't take my sleep…" His one escape from this horrible situation...he can't lose that.

"You are not the one in control." They say with a smirk.

"c'mon Chara, don't…" Sans shuts his eyes, "don't you need sleep too..?"

"Monster food gives me all the energy I need. I just need to eat more of it." They say with a giggle.

"so i'm gonna be tired _and_ hungry, huh? that's a recipe for disaster, kid. i'm no fun when i'm grumpy."

"So I've seen. Still, I will have fun with this."

Sans groans, giving a shaky sigh.

"Are you going to cry, Sansy?" Chara sneers.

"ha. i don't cry, kid. i mean, pain, yeah, everyone does. but i'm a little too hopeless and numb to cry. especially not over somethin' like this."

"Hmm, I see."

Sans rolls his eyes away from their face, clearing his throat and tapping his feet idly. "...are you waiting for me to say something or what?"

"Nothing you need to know~"

Sans side eyes them, squinting, "...okaayy…"

"If you do sleep you will probably dream of your dead brother anyway so in hindsight i am doing you a favor."

"pardon me for not being grateful." Sans mumbles.

"I do not think I will. See, you don't even deserve to exist yet here I am allowing your continued existence."

Sans rolls his eyes, "yeah again, i'm not really grateful for that. that's kinda the reason for my suffering right now."

They suck in a badly concealed breath of frustration. "I can make it even worse for you."

Sans scoffs, "yeah you weren't gonna plan on that anyway?"

"Tch, I mean more worse you idiot."

"much worse." Sans corrects snidely. "grammar, Chara."

"How I speak is none of your concern!"

"you're easy to piss off, kid." Sans laughs.

"Says you." The child scoffs.

"well yeah i'm the only one left." He gives a bitter grin, "remember?"

"Exactly, because you don't matter!" The child says with a grin.

"so why am i still alive then?" He challenges.

"Because the patheticness of your life entertains me." They reply with a smirk.

"well i'm here all week."

"Or forever." The child says with a snicker.

"lucky you. i guess you really love me huh?"

The child bursts into laughter. "As if!"

"don't break my heart kid...you went through all this trouble to get some one on one time just to tell me you hate me? i'm crushed and shocked." He monotones, clearly getting tired of this banter.

"You said it not me." They say, laughter calming down.

"i don't have the energy or patience to explain sarcasm to you right now."

"Good because I don't want to hear it."

"great, 'cause i don't wanna say it." Sans retorts.

"Good!"

" _fantastic!"_

"Truly."

Sans rolls his eyes in exasperation and leans his head back, shutting his eyes.

He feels their finger trail around his eye. "How is it that you have eyelids despite being a skeleton?"

Sans pulls his head away, "personal space, kid, geez…" Their goddamn dusty fingers don't need to be anywhere near him.

They snicker. "You didn't answer my question."

"i don't know i just do? why not ask how i eat food or even walk without muscles while we're at it. let's have a monster biology lesson, why not."

"Someone is getting a little grumpy~"

"yeah i'm _tired_."

"You are going to be tired for a while~"

"so i'm gonna be grumpy for a while. consequences, kid, get used to 'em."

"I can still annoy you just as you may annoy me." The child says with a smirk.

"and i can give you the silent treatment."

"I can still keep you awake." The child muses.

Sans sticks to his threat and says nothing, just mildly glaring at the wall ahead of him.

They follow his gaze, and chuckle. "That is quite an intense glare at that wall. If looks could kill." Stubborn silence. Chara's brow twitches in annoyance. "It would have been even easier to kill Papyrus that way~"

Nothing.

"Imagine, every time I so much as glare, a monster would explode into dust. That would be funny. Like dust confetti.".

This kid has a poor sense of humor. But Sans keeps that thought to himself, trying to see if he can learn to fall asleep with his eyes open.

"Ok, jokes over you can stop staring at the wall like it is your favorite T.V. show." They say,snapping their fingers in his face.

Fine. The ceiling is just as interesting anyway.

They give a frustrated huff. "Say something!"

Nope.

They stare at him for a few minutes. Just as he begins to think they are going to do this for the rest of the time they smack him, hard, and half of his HP goes down. Sans jerks to the side at the force, breathing through his teeth and shutting his eyes tightly at the pain. His shoulders draw in as he raises his head back up, staring at them.

They smirk. "So, is this what I have to resort to for entertainment? So be it." they say with a laugh.

Sans glowers, giving a tight smirk of his own. "so be it." He echoes.

"First off, since you don't want to talk, I'll break your jaw. That should be reason enough don't you think?"

"i've already got more than enough reason to not speak to you, you freak."

"Ahh the prodigal voice. It's a shame you won't be coherent when your jaw is broken." They say as they grab the sides of his face.

He shuts his eyes tightly and pulls his shoulders back, bracing himself for the pain. They place one hand on his forehead to keep his head in place, and another hand on his jaw, and they pull till they hear the crack. The screaming that results is excellent - agonized and plenty full of choked cries of pain. And there's the tears.

But still not their desired tears. Suddenly, a plan comes to mind. They start to laugh as it forms. They will have to wait for the perfect moment…

Sans glares at them through the droplets streaking down his cheeks, one eye closed and shoulders shaking as he tries to work his way through the agony. What the fuck are they laughing about...

"Boy, you sure look awe struck with your jaw hanging like that. " They mock, laughing more.

Screw this kid.

Sans shuts his eyes, trying in vain to try and fall asleep.

"Would it hurt if I poked it?" they ask with a smirk, walking back up to him.

His answer is a harsh kick to their own jaw, jolting the child's head up and causing them to fall back - he just lost his freedom of leg movement privileges, but it was _worth_ it.

He hears a satisfying crack as their head hits the floor, but to his disappointment they sit up. They start to laugh as they clutch their head. "You are _such_ an idiot."

Sans gives a wink in reply. Yep. He sure is...

They take out a piece of monster candy, and pop it into their mouth, then as predicted they secure his ankles to the legs of the chair. They they reinforce the rope on his wrists. Sans sighs and rolls his eyes at them, feeling his head growing a little fuzzy.

They then grab one of his fingers, and they push it up sharply until it snaps.

" _nhah! ack!"_ Sans arches his back, tugging at the restraints and trying to pull his hands away from them.

They giggle. "Let's play a game shall we? Every time your eyes close for longer than a blink, I break some part of you. How does that sound?"

Sans glares at them. If he didn't want to talk before he definitely doesn't want to now.

"Nod if you understand, or I will break on of your toes."

He gives a nod, sighing.

"Excellent. Well, if you need me, I will be making myself some food. Don't forget to keep your eyes open~" They say as they vanish into the kitchen. Sans gives them the stink eye as they disappear from view. Rotten little brat...

He can hear them shuffling about the kitchen, moving pots, opening and closing the cupboards. Sans struggles to think about something besides sleep, but his eyelids keep getting heavier. For a few minutes he manages to shake himself awake. But it only takes about five before his head has dropped and he's asleep.

He wakes up to the pain of another broken finger.

" _agh! a-achk!"_ Sans starts awake, wincing every time he shifts his jaw and forcing his eyes open, panting.

He hears them giggling as they walk back into his view. "I can technically stay up for days if I constantly eat . I know, I have done it before. Magic food gives such a great energy and wellness boost." they say with a smirk.

' _oh god..'_ Sans's glare weakens as he realizes what this means, and he lowers his gaze, shoulders drooping.

"However, this game has to end sometime, so, how about we go until your jaw heals? You will get a piece of a candy, every time secret conditions are met. Do you accept?"

What the fuck are 'secret conditions'...

Sans gives a weak shrug and then nods, looking up at them.

"Good." They say, taking out a crabapple and biting into it with a smirk.

His eyes narrow a bit but he can't really summon up too much will to be hateful at the moment, so he just turns his head away, wincing at his aching jaw.

Chara wasn't joking about having to eat constantly. The longer they stay up, the more they will have to eat, to allow their deteriorating brain to heal from the deprivation. Which means every hour they have to restock their pockets with food, before going back to watch Sans. And as the days pass, without fail, he's always asleep by the time they return.

His fingers and a wrist are broken by the time Chara takes out a monstercandy, smashing it into pieces, and feeding him a small piece. Sans chokes it down, feeling the crack in his jaw heal over slightly. He looks up at them, confused.

"Secret conditions~" They say with a gleam in their eye.

It isn't until they give him the second piece that he recognises the pattern. All of his fingers and both of his wrists are broken by this point. Well at least his jaw is healed...fucking fantastic…

"ugh…" Sans winces and coughs as the bit of candy is absorbed, testingly putting his teeth together, "...great…"

Chara inspects his jaw, and seeing a small crack, they grin. "Not completely healed yet~" they say as they saunter into the kitchen to refuel.

"...can this game be over now, huh?"

"Not until it is fully healed~" They call out. "Unless you can persuade me otherwise..."

"...please." He mumbles.

They laugh at his weak attempt. "If that is your best attempt at persuading me, you are completely wrong." They say as they leave the kitchen munching on some crackers.

" _please_ can i get some damn sleep, Chara. j...just for a few minutes, okay..?"

"If you do I will have to start breaking toes~"

Sans gives a weary sigh and falls silent, trying his best not to move his hands at all.

They pull out another food item, thankful they can have something to do while they wait. Idle eating may be a bad habit, but it is necessary to get Sans just where they want him. He watches them with tired eyes, blinking rapidly on occasion and taking in a deep breath, trying his absolute best to stay awake. This has been...how many days now? Five? He doesn't know.

He doesn't even realize he was asleep this time until he feels a toe break, and hears the snicker of the child.

"gh!" Sans lifts up his head, wincing and giving a pained groan.

"Five more breaks to go Sansy~" The child mocks.

"just get it over with…" He mumbles.

"Nahhh." They say with a giggle.

His chin drops back to his sternum and he gives up, letting himself fall asleep.

He feels a continuous pain in another toe, Chara slowly bending it, but not letting it snap. "No cheating~" They say, grinning widely.

"mph." Sans opens his non-blind eye to look at them, "hows'it cheatin' if'm fallin' 'sleep.."

"You did it purposely~" They say as the bone finally snaps.

Sans's shoulders jolt back and he gives a fumbled swear, "...yeah, no i don't...don't really care 'nough to try an' stay 'wake 'nymore.."

"So, I might just have to make it take even longer."

"there's n'thin' i c'n do 'bout it at th…..th's point, kid…" His eyes close and he's unconscious again.

Another toe snaps and he's jerked back, "You'd best try harder then." Chara says threateningly.

"or what, y're gonna break another toe?" Sans snorts, rolling his eyes and shaking his head, "look, kid...th's's gonna play out ina r'lly predict'ble way, no matter howya spin it….i'm gonna g't tired, y'r gonna haveta' heal me 'gain an' 'gain, and yea eventu'lly i'm gonna 'br'k' or whatever but...th'n what? you're back t' bein' bored an' i'm back in bed. y'r j'st takin' th' long route…" He takes in a deep breath, eyes closing once more, "...'nd i'm not g'nna make it en'ertainin' forya so...how 'bout you jus' RESET, huh? lemme go off script an' fight you in different ways 'til we're both tired...least that'll last longer, right…?"

Chara sits still for a minute, pulling their hand away from his injured foot and sighing, looking bored and frustrated, "...I suppose you have a point…."

"'course i do...it's been...h'w many weeks or days…" At any rate, longer than he's ever gone without seeing his friends and family, "...still n'thin'...so…" Sans yawns, chin hitting his collar as his eyelids close, and he falls asleep.

Sans stirs as morning light hits his sockets, and he rolls over with a groan, sighing and burying his face in his pillow.

His eyes open.

Pillow…?

" _SANS! WHERE ARE YOU?!"_

He sits up, eyes widening. "...Paps…?" He gets out of bed, testingly lighting up his eye. It glows perfectly. There's no pain. "...P-Paps..?!"

" _SANS WE ARE GOING TO BE LATE_!"

Sans puts a hand over his mouth, and then closes his eyes, breathing out a laugh. They RESET. They finally got bored and RESET.

"comin', Paps!" Sans calls, giving a laugh. God, it feels like it's been ages since he's seen his brother. He straightens his hoodie a bit as usual so Papyrus doesn't scold him about sleeping in his clothes, and hurries out the door. He can even smell burning spaghetti.

He hits the bottom of the stairs, "how'd ya sleep, bro?" He peers into the kitchen.

...not there. Huh...then wh-...

Sans wanders back out into the living room and looks at the TV, freezing up. A frozen image of Papyrus on screen holding up a hand and yelling at someone off camera. One of the tapes…

"..w...w-wait…"

Hysterical laughter is his only warning before Chara's knife is plunged into his magic eye.


	8. Not as Strong as You Think You Are

They are still laughing as he regains consciousness.

"Oh man! I cannot _believe_ you actually fell for that." They are laughing so hard they can barely stand.

He isn't even tied up. He's just laying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling with a blank expression. Slowly he sits up, putting a hand over his bleeding eye and saying nothing.

"You were... were so _excited_ you completely missed the TV screen until you came back!" They mocked, still laughing. "What in the world made you think I would _ever_ 'reset'?"

Sans doesn't respond. He draws in his knees, staring at the floor. How _did_ he fall for...why did..why did he even think…

His eyes squint up a bit and he feels a lump forming in his throat. He'd thought he was going to see his brother again, after weeks of torture...

Chara kneels down close to him. Smirking. "The best part is? I didn't expect it to work. I thought you were too smart for it. Guess I overestimated you huh?" The child snickers.

He swallows, turning his head away from them. He feels his hands start to tremble. They're right, how in... _how_ did he fall for such an obvious ploy…?

They grab his chin, and force him to look at them. "And to act like you cared so much about your brother, like you didn't watch him die, doing nothing about it until nearly everyone else was dead~."

Sans takes in a shaky breath, swallowing again and tightening his jaw, still keeping his eyes turned away. He can't cry in front of them he _can't_...

"What makes you think you even _deserve_ to see your brother again? You _are_ the reason he is dead after all~"

He shuts his eyes, fists curling up as he takes in a shaky breath. And before he can stop it, Sans feels a single tear escape his eye and slip down his cheekbone.

"Imagine though if he was here. He would forgive you, you would hug him, happy for once in your pathetic life, only to watch him turn to dust endless more times. And you have the gall to call _me_ sick." They say with a snicker.

"sh...sh-shut up…"

"Why? Because you know that I am right?" Their snicker turns into full mocking laughter.

Sans pushes them back and gets to his feet, wiping quickly at his face and walking away from them into the kitchen.

They catch themselves on their elbows, before glaring, and standing up, storming over to him. They grab the back of his jacket near the collar and pull him down to the ground. "Attacking me is against the rules Sansy~"

Sans grunts as he hits the ground, giving a huff, "s-see if i care about your s...your stupid _r-rules_ , kid!" He winces at the stammer in his choked voice.

They just laugh and mock his voice crack. "You are just so hilariously pathetic!"

" _just shut up_!"

They smack him. "No, _you_ shut up. You keep forgetting your place here Sansy. You are just a pathetic waste of space. What makes you think you have _any_ authority over me!?"

Sans gives an angry yell, grabbing the back of their head by their hair and slamming their head against the corner of the dining room table, " _i don't take orders from you!"_

They cry out and fall over, that hit knocking their hp very low. They stagger as they sit up, stunned. They look up at him smirking as the blood drips down their face. They open their mouth to speak, but Sans doesn't give them the chance to. He slams their already bleeding forehead against the corner again, breathing heavily and clenching his jaw as more tears pour down his face.

He wakes up back in his room. Sans gives a tight grin as he senses his magic. The kid fucked up this time...he rolls out of his bed and shoulders open the door, " _ **You are so boned, Chara**_!"

"As if!" Retorts the smirking child, right before he sees the knife fly towards his eye.

He dodges, sending back a torrent of bones in response, "you shouldn't have pulled that prank, kid." Sans gives a furious grin, grabbing their SOUL and slamming them against the wall, "now i've got a _real_ bone to pick with you."

They laugh. "Who said it was a prank?" They say with a smirk, preparing to dodge his next attack.

" _ **What the hell else would you call it?!**_ " There's the sound of a Gaster Blaster charging, and then a powerful blue beam shoots at Chara. They barely dodge it. Now that he's not using the same attack patterns, it's a bit more difficult to fight him.

Still, they have all the time in the world. A close savepoint, one where he is asleep, really this will just be pure fun for them. They run for their knife, anticipating Sans to block them. He teleports to the side, and then shoves them back down the stairs. "is it as fun as i made it look?!"

"Nah, you made it look boring compared to its actuality." Chara says as they get up, smirking.

"that's a fucking shame. how about we try again?" Sans grabs their SOUL and throws them against the front door, sending them out into the snow.

"Not even going to allow me a chance to attack? Tsk tsk such cowardice~"

"do i look like i'm in the mood to follow rules, Chara?!"

"Well, if you are going to break the rules, does this mean I get to?" They ask as they stand.

"because you haven't already?" He fires a row of Gaster Blasters at them.

They dodge with practiced ease. "You are starting to turn back to habit Sansy, don't you want to make this a challenge?"

Eye flaring brightly, Sans lifts his hands and summons a Blaster wheel, the speed of the energy bursts ten times what it had been before.

Their eyes widen in surprise as they try to dodge, but they don't know the pattern, and they lose a good portion of their HP. "Heh, what else you got?" They taunt as they eat some food from their inventory.

His shoulders are already heaving, "why did you trick me like that. tell me." He pants, forcibly slamming them through a wall of bones by holding their SOUL to the ground.

They quickly jump out of it. "To see you cry, to see you _devastated_." They shout, pridefully, and victoriously.

"what do...what do you even _gain_ from that?!" He yells back, voice and shoulders shaking, "h..h-how can y-you _w-want_ that?!"

They start walking up closer to him. "Entertainment, satisfaction, revenge, sadism." They shrug. "Take your pick."

They are briefly able to enjoy the gleam of another tear in his eye before their SOUL is seized, and they are mercilessly slammed between sharpened bones until their H.P drops to zero. Sans falls forward on his hands and knees, gasping for breath and choking back a sob, waiting for the inevitable SAVE reload.

He wakes up in his room. He stares at the ceiling for a minute, letting his eye flare up a little. What's the _point_? What's the point they can't die, they barely feel pain anymore, he can't make them suffer at all...every time he fights back he's only entertaining them.

Sans grits his teeth, rolling over and hugging his pillow to his face so he can silence the sound of his already quiet crying. Might as well get it out now and go straight to being numb again.

He hears a barely contained snicker. He turns around to find Chara rushing at him, and before he can react, their knife is in his eye.

He wakes up on the couch, the last four tapes lined up on the floor with Chara standing before them. They are smirking. Sans glances at them before looking away. He hears the first tape be smashed to pieces. Sans flinches, looking forward again. Well, there goes First Christmas….

Chara waits a moment, before smashing the second one, a piece of the plastic from that one flies over and hits him on the cheek. He mutters an 'ow'.

How long is he going to be here?

...are these tapes all he's going to have of his brother while he's stuck in this hell?

"...Ch...Ch-Chara wait, s-stop…"

He hears the third one being crushed to pieces.

"stop it _stop it_ please, kid, just stop just let me keep _one_ tape, just one, c'mon _please_..." Sans chokes out, letting himself sound desperate as Chara puts their foot over the film.

"Hmmm, I dunno Sans, I don't really think you deserve it..."

"kid i'm _sorry_ i won't kill you again just _please-_ "

"It is not just that Sansy, you tried to run away from me as well."

"i'm not gonna try that again, Chara, i swear. what...what's even the point of that, huh?" Sans gives a weak laugh, "where am i gonna go?"

"Nowhere I cannot find you." They say with a smirk.

' _creep.'_

Sans nods, shifting his jaw and sighing, "yeah. y-yeah okay, deal.."

They look at him confused, and slightly amused. "Deal?"

"...don't break the last tape and i won't run again."

"Hmmmm, I'll make a better offer, for every escape attempt, or attempt on my life, you have or will make, I will cut another piece of the film." Chara pulls out scissors. "How does that sound?"

"...so twice…?"

"Two escape attempts plus one attempt on my life, i believe that equals thrice."

Sans gives a huff, turning his head away, "...fine. whatever."

Chara starts pulling out the film, and cuts thrice, causing a couple pieces of film to fall to the floor, and then drops the case to the floor, tossing a roll of scotch tape onto the pile. "Have fun~"

"...oh." Sans picks up the tape as he gets to his knees on the floor, "..uh. thanks…" He hadn't been expecting them to provide a method of repair. That was nice, at least...

They smirk. "No problem. You like puzzles right? Think of this as honoring your late brother's memory~" They snicker.

Sans tightens his jaw, refusing to look up at Chara. He wants so badly to kill them again, but it'd just lead to more unnecessary suffering. So he ignores their attempts to incite anger, and successfully sorts the frames into the right order, beginning to tape it back as best he

Without warning, Chara moves swiftly from the couch, gets on their hands and knees where Sans was puzzling, and leans down and blows the films out of place. "Whoops~" Chara then sits up, giggling.

Closing his eyes, Sans lets out a slow breath and looks up at them, unamused, "really."

They snicker, and reach out to grab one of the pieces blown astray. He snatches their wrist and holds it. "i don't think so."

They reflexively try to pull their hand out of his grip. When that doesn't work, they try to pry his hand off with their other hand, smirking. "Let go, or do I have to make another cut?"

Sans releases them, guarding the pieces of the film more carefully and watching them from the corner of his eyes.

They snicker. "You remind me of a puppy guarding its bone."

"uh huh. that's cute, kid." Sans mumbles, taping the last piece and slowly winding it back up. It helps to have bony fingers.

"Are you going to put it in to see what parts of it get skipped over?" They ask with a smirk.

"nope. not right now." Sans tucks it inside his jacket, standing back up and rubbing gently at his wounded eye.

"Why not? There is nothing better for you to do." They say.

He sits back down on the couch, "already cried in front of you once. don't really want that to happen again." Sans explains, giving a shrug.

"Who said you get a choice?"

The skeleton narrows his eyes a little, "do i _have_ to watch it now? that what you're saying?"

"Exactly."

Rolling his eyes, Sans takes out the tape and kneels in front of the player, "coulda just said that." He points out as he slides it in.

Chara situates themselves on the couch. Sans sits on the floor, resting his chin in his palm.

" _NYEHEHEH! IS IT WORKING? YES! GREETINGS! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM MAKING A RECORDING! WHY IS THIS SOON TO BE ROYAL GUARDSMAN MAKING THIS RECORDING YOU MAY ASK?! BECAUSE I AM ABOUT TO CAPTURE MY FIRST HUMAN! ONE OF MY TRAPS HAS BEEN SPRUNG AND THAT CAN ONLY MEAN ONE THING!"_

"Only your imminent demise." The child says with a laugh.

Sans shifts his jaw.

The camera goes blurry as he runs, and then stops, pointing it upward at a net hanging from a tree. There's definitely something in it.

" _HUMAN! PREPARE TO BE CAPTURED BY THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE-"_

The figure in the net shifts, and a familiar grin appears. " _sup bro."_

" _SANS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY TRAP?!"_

" _it's cozy, Paps. it's like a hammock up here. you wanna try it?"_

" _NO! GET DOWN!"_

"Nets? Really? How basic can you get?" They mock, rolling their eyes.

Sans ignores them, to their annoyance, and keeps watching. He and Papyrus 'argue' for a bit until the younger brother bribes him down with a promise of a trip to Grillby's.

Chara just continues to smirk, and cast side glances at Sans. Eventually they realize that his eyes are closed and he's fallen asleep on the couch. Again.

They smirk, and take the tape out of the VCR, and heading off to hide it. He can sleep for now...after all, it's no fun trying to play with an exhausted pet.


	9. A Joke Isn't as Funny the 2nd TimeAround

After only an hour of sleep, Sans starts stirring. His breathing quickens and his hands clench the couch cushions. "hff.. _hff_...Papyrus...no, _no no no_..."

His eye flares up in tremendous pain as he tries to subconsciously summon his magic. This jolts him awake. He falls off the couch, holding his hands over the empty socket and trying to keep his cries of pain stifled. " _hnn..hnnn_...shit, shit... _guhh._..c-c'mon, Sans, suck it up." He slowly shifts to his seat, staying tucked up against the couch. " _hhnn.."_

"Sansy~ time for food~" Chara calls from the kitchen.

They know he's awake from the telltale signs of thumping against the floor. ' _I wonder if he had a nightmare…'_ Chara thinks gleefully to themselves.

Sans curls up over his lap, trying to calm down and reduce the instinct to fight with power he no longer has. ".. _hh.._ guh...shit..." He shuts his eyes tightly, quickly wiping off a tear that slipped free from his good eye. "calm down calm down calm down.."

At his lack of response, Chara walks into the living room to find Sans amidst his panic attack. "Aww~ did poor Sansy have a noightmare?" Chara coos mockingly.

The sound of Chara's voice does not help. Sans gives a violent flinch away from them, pushing back against the couch.

"What? Not gonna talk to me?" Chara leans down, at a safe distance might he lash out. "Are you going to ignore me because of a measly little nightmare? And here after I made dinner. .."

Sans starts shaking at the closeness of he and his brother's murderer. "m-maybe you could g-give me a little s-space right now, k-kid?"

"Maybe you should come and eat the food I made you."

"c-can't really do that r-right now..."

"I take it you would rather me cut another piece of the tape?" Chara says, standing straight and grinning. "Do you really care so little about protecting your last precious memory of your brother?"

A noise suspiciously similar to a sob escapes and he covers his mouth, internally cursing. "o-okay, i-i'll get up j-just give me a few seconds.." Sans excuses himself for the moment of weakness, since waking up from a nightmare into an even worse nightmare would shake anyone up pretty badly.

Chara smiles and heads back into the kitchen, plating the meal. After a little more than a few seconds, Sans forces himself to stand, still holding his eye. He takes in a few deep breaths, and heads to the dining room table. Chara sets the food down...it's spaghetti. They are humming pleasantly to themselves. Sans sits down heavily, holding his head in his hands and trying to steady his breathing.

"What? Are you not gonna eat? I worked hard with this you know"

Sans slowly lifts his head, staring blankly at the plate. "...you made this...?"

"Yep, with a recipe I found on the counter, I did take some liberties to make it taste better though, burned food is not edible at all."

Sans is calming down, but his eye still hurts. "you shouldn't touch pap's stuff." He'd gladly choke down another plate of burnt spaghetti before a meal with his murderer.

"I think you should just focus on doing what I say, I can still destroy that tape you know."

"so much for that promise, then, huh?"

"I've kept it unsmashed thus far, I think you should be grateful." Chara starts to eat their food, making sure their palms aren't seen.

Sans gives a sigh, slowly picking up his fork and starting to eat. "it's alright kid. not like i can judge."

Chara finishes their plate quickly, but as they pick it up, they instinctively drop it as it irritates their newfound injuries, hissing in pain. The plate goes crashing to the floor

Sans jumps at the noise, still on edge from his nightmare. His own dish goes crashing as well. Spaghetti splatters over the floor. "shit, kid..."

Chara seems flustered. "P-pick up your mess, don't let that food go to waste!" They hurry to the kitchen to get a broom for their broken plate.

"...you're kidding, right? i don't have the highest standards for food, kid, but i'm not gonna-"

"You will eat it because I say so!" Chara snaps, clearly embarrassed that they dropped their plate.

Sans narrows his eyes. "...what'd you put in the food, Chara."

Chara smirks. "It doesn't matter, you are going to eat it."

That's probably true. "is it gonna kill me?" Sans sounds sadly hopeful as he reluctantly starts picking the food up off of the ground.

"Not at all, why would I want you dead? On another note, your bro makes a wonderful seasoning~" Chara begins sweeping up their mess, giggling.

Sans freezes. "...wh-what the fuck did you just say…?"

Please please _please_ let him have misheard that.

"Watch your mouth Sansy, there is a child present~" They are smirking.

" _what did you say?!"_

They smirk at him. "You heard me."

Sans starts trembling, looking at the pasta in his hands and seeing the specks of dust. "..n-no...n-n-no n-no oh _G-God_ -!" He drops it and scrambles back, putting a hand over his mouth. His bones seem to turn completely white.

They giggle. "Plus, that isn't the only thing~" They inspect their hand for a minute, then turn it towards him. Their fingers are red and are speckled with blisters. He can't see. His vision is spinning and slowly turning black. His back hits the couch and he shuts his eyes. Sans can feel his very SOUL convulsing, trying to spit out what it's already absorbed.

Not his _brother_ not his brother not _Papyrus_ it had been bad enough when it was just nameless monsters but _not Papyrus_ -

Sans abruptly blacks out, his mind too horrified to process any further thought.

He wakes up on the couch, shivering, and queasy. The skeleton wraps his arms around his stomach loosely, swallowing and shuddering. He wants to believe that was all a dream, but he knows better.

"Ahh, the lazybones awakens~" They bend down to meet his eyes where he lays, and smirks. "How are you feeling?"

Sans quickly turns his head away, his nausea spiking just at the sight of them, "...not...in the mood to talk…" He says weakly.

They start gently petting his skull. "Anything I can do to make it feel better?" They coo, mocking. Their smirk is evidence of their insincerity.

He backs up from their hand, "d-don't touch m-me…" He hates how much his voice trembles.

"Shhh, it will all be ok Sansy, after all, you are stuck here forever, might as well enjoy it right?" They say in false gung-ho tone.

"leave me alone go _away_.."

They feel his forehead. "Tsss, ouch, you are a bit hot headed, I will get you a cool rag." They say as they get up.

Sans pulls himself up against the corner of the couch, drawing up his knees as much as he can. He feels like he's shaking a lot more than normal, even taking into account that he'd just eaten-

He dry heaves and shuts his eyes, turning his mind to other things quickly. 'That isn't the only thing' they'd said...Sans is sure that Chara is too proud of themselves to keep from explaining soon enough.

Chara comes back in with a cool rag, and he notices the bandage on their hand as they press it to his forehead. "Feeling a bit more cool?"

This time he doesn't try and pull his head away. It feels nice to have his fevered skull cooled a bit. He swallows, "wh….wh-why would y...you do s-some...something l-like th-that….?"

"What? Poison you?" They chuckle. "Because I can."

"...w...w-wait, poison…?"

"Well, yeah." They say it like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "However, I had forgotten that buttercups leave blisters if messed with for too long. In hindsight I should have used gloves to crush them."

"...buttercups, won't...won't that k..kill me..?"

"You didn't eat that much. Besides, it takes a lot of those to start doing any real damage."

"...still f-feel pretty sick...and i've only got 1...1 H.P, so.." Sans puts his hands to his temples, groaning quietly at the pain.

Chara checks his stats, then smirks. "Speaking of, you are looking a little low there. I will be right back."

"no rush…" Sans mutters under his breath, taking a look at himself as well. 0.3 HP. And he can feel it slowly dropping. They come back a little later with a bowl of soup, by then his HP dropped to .15.

"Open up Sansy~"

Immediately he recoils, looking even more sick - who is it _this_ time?

They frown, and hold out the spoon insistently. "Open up, you are going to eat this."

"don't...don't really wanna..eat anything th..th-that _you_ offer, kid.." Sans explains, hating how weak his voice sounds. He can barely stay upright in his position, and what little strength he has left is fading every second.

They force his mouth open, and they let the soup trickle into his mouth.

Sans coughs, eyes shutting, "wh-what's _in_ this who else d-did you…?"

"It's chicken soup you idiot, now drink up. I can't have you dying so early." Plus, their save point is _before_ they poisoned him, and they know he won't fall for it again.

"j-just tell me th...there's no dust.."

"No dust... this time." They say with a smirk.

Sans shudders at the manic look in their eye, reaching out to take the bowl.

They pull it away from him. "Uh uh, you are not going to drink all of it, just enough to get your HP steady."

"...f-fine...but i can f..i can feed _myself_ , kid.."

"You are too sick, useless, and lazy to do that." They say with a smug grin, holding up the spoon. "Open up~"

Sans gives them a weak glare, turning his eyes away as he reluctantly opens his mouth. They feed him, and once his HP reaches .5/1 they set the broth down. Sans swallows, relieved to have some sort of sustenance that isn't tainted with monster dust.

"Good boy." They say, patting his head and snickering.

He pushes their hand away and leans back, trying to look more indignant than embarrassed, considering he's just been spoon-fed like an infant. Luckily he's too sick to really care about the lack of dignity in his situation. The buttercup poison is taking its toll, and he starts shivering, drawing in his knees toward his chin in an instinctive search for warmth.

"Aww, does Sansy need a blankie?" They coo mockingly, followed by another snicker.

Sans wishes they would just break his fingers again. Humiliation doesn't sit well with him. He pulls down his hood in a show of holding his jacket tighter against himself, but it's more to hide his face. Not that all of this is really getting to him or anything, of course, just..he doesn't really want to be looked at right now.

Chara waits and watches him with a wide smile and wide eyes. Slowly his HP drops again, and when he's too weak to struggle, Chara gets on the couch with him and pulls his skull into their lap, petting his head and giggling at his glare.

"You know how I first figured out that you knew more about the RESETS than you let on? It was outside the Ruins, where you would greet me. You always looked uncomfortable at the dust on my hands. But after my fifth genocide run, after _killing_ you and everyone five times with almost no effort...when I approached you, your hand was shaking." Chara giggles, "You were so scared of me...do you remember how I smiled at you? The fear in your eyes was _hilarious_."

Sans looks away from their face, trying to pull away from their hands and failing miserably. Every time his HP gets dangerously low, they feed him more broth, keeping him just on the edge of alive and forcing him to stay conscious as well so that he has to listen to their accusations and taunts without being able to respond or defend himself.

"It's funny how Papyrus would always spare me. I could be coming at him with a knife, I could _tell_ him that I was going to kill him, but he never hurt me. And we both know how easily he could have - your brother is incredibly strong. Just not strong enough." Chara smiles, putting both hands on the sides of his face and leaning over a bit, "Or smart enough. How many times did you just stand in the background and watch me dust him?" They smile widely, giggling, "How _scared of me_ were you to stay hiding while I killed him again and _again_ and _again and again…?"_ Their smile gets unnaturally wide, and their eyes slowly darken, pupils turning red and dripping black.

"gh!" Sans wheezes out a fearful gasp and shuts his eyes immediately, struggling to sit up, but unable to pull free of their hands. " _s-stop!"_

" _E, Y. U_?"

" _a_ _ **lot**_ _kid a_ _ **l-lot**_ _i s-swear it n-no n-need to keep sh-showin' off-!_ "

"It's not your place to tell me what to do, Sans." Chara's nails dig into his skull, causing him to flinch. "Look at me."

"n-n-no th-thanks…"

"Sansy. Just look at me. Pretty please?" They ask sweetly, patting his cheek, "No more scary faces. For now." They giggle.

Reluctantly Sans opens one eye, and then the other (pointless, since he's blind in the left one now), relaxing only a little when their demon form has restored to normal. Because now he's looking at _Frisk's_ face...Chara's presence has contorted their face in some strange way but it still looks like the kid.

"There we go. Not so scary now, right?" Chara says, as if calming down a small child. Sans doesn't answer, just glances away. The child chuckles, "I'll take that as a yes…"

For a few minutes they don't really do anything - they just sit back, idly stroking Sans's head and watching the wall with a faraway look. Sans refuses to let himself be lulled to sleep by the sensation of _petting_ , because that's just not allowed to happen. He's _not_ a pet, whatever this fucked up kid might think.

"I have regrets sometimes too, you know…" Chara hums, giving a disappointed sigh, "You were already terrified of me, but if I'd made _that_ face at you, and talked to you in that voice...heehee…" They put a hand over their mouth, eyes squinting up as they giggle in an image that would almost be 'cute' if Sans wasn't all too aware of the black little SOUL behind that face. A stolen SOUL, to boot. "I just have to wonder how much you would have let me torture your brother just to save your own skin! I mean, you already let me kill him because you were too scared to let me find out about you knowing the RESETS as well as you do….so if you were even _more_ afraid of me, how long would you watch me pull Papyrus apart piece by piece before finally trying to save him?"

Sans's sockets blacken and he grits his teeth, "d-don't even _t-try_ -!"

"Well obviously I _can't_ anymore...I've already made it obvious that I've been aware of how special you really are for a long time...you wouldn't be trying to hide that from me now. So we can't play that game anymore." Chara pouts, and then gives another long sigh, "It's a shame...but don't worry, Sans." They look down at him, smiling cheerfully and speaking sweetly, "By the time I'm finally done with this timeline, you'll be too broken to even _want_ to help your own brother!"

He gives a fearful shudder, swallowing and curling his hands into fists, "Ch-Chara y...y-you gotta...you _c-can't-_!"

"Shhshh, Sansy." Chara takes the still-cool cloth and wipes away the sweat gathering on his forehead, "Get some sleep. You've had a long day, hm? Poor pet...you must be so tired."

His eyes narrowed, "I'm not your _p-_!"

Chara clamps a hand down over his mouth, a manic rage entering their eyes, "I said _shush_ , _**pet**_! Are you going to obey or should I break your jaw again?"

They're _insane_ this kid is a broken down _door_ they're so unhinged. Sans shakes his head, trying to take in even breaths and shutting his eyes. Chara relaxes and starts humming cheerfully.

….at least tomorrow can't be any worse...


	10. Know When to Quit

When Sans wakes up, his hands are tied behind his back, and Chara is nowhere in sight. He's not sure if that's a good or bad thing. Sitting up proves painful but not impossible. Most of the poison has worn off. It was only a small dose after all. Still, his non-existent but still somehow-existent stomach is sore. He looks around, searching for any sign of the demon child. When he doesn't find anything he instinctively tries tugging the knots on himself loose, and then he remembers how pointless it would be.

Shutting his eyes, Sans gives a silent sigh and sits back, staring numbly at his feet. _Everything_ is pretty pointless now. Even moreso than before this messed up timeline ever started. It makes his SOUL feel heavy to have to recognize that there's nothing he can do to help himself. And the fact that he _could_ have helped others (including his brother) before this RESET only piles on the guilt until his shoulders are slumped drastically low.

' _you fucking coward…'_

After an hour Chara emerges from his brother's room. "Good morning Sansy, feeling better?"

He gives them a weak glare and looks away, watching the floor rather than their face. "super." Sans mutters. "feelin' a little tied up...do i wanna know why…?"

"To keep you from running away."

"kinda..kinda already promised to not do that, remember…?"

"Plus, I had gotten bored, and did some digging around." They hold up a black spiked collar. "We are going on a walk!"

His eyes widen and he winces, "...how about no..?"

"Nonsense Sansy, we can't just stay inside forever." They say as they approach him with the collar.

"i don't…" Sans pushes himself further against the couch corner, his tied arms keeping him from being able to block himself. " _really_ don't wanna wear that."

"What makes you think I care about what you want Sansy?" They say, grabbing onto his shirt to pull him forward, and quickly securing it around his neck.

Sans winces at the uncomfortable sensation of the collar on his vertebrae - it's not exactly a snug fit. "...dunno. pretty dumb to think that i guess."

"Completely idiotic." They agree, tightening the collar a bit before forcing Sans to his feet.

He stumbles a bit but stays standing, giving a weary sigh and watching the ground with a numb expression.

They pull a leash from their inventory, and clip it to the collar. "Ready? We are going to head to the lab. I haven't thoroughly searched it for stuff."

"i hate errands." Where in the fuck did they get a leash...that weird bunny lady and her brother maybe?

"Too bad, we are going." They tug on the leash, and pull him out the door.

Sans grimaces at the foreign sensation of being yanked around by his neck, keeping up a close pace with the kid to avoid having to feel it too much. Maybe this'll just be a one time thing. Also, maybe they'll RESET and let everyone live happily ever after for forever. And ketchup will rain from the sky and there'll be a Grillby's on every corner.

He closes his eyes and shakes his head at himself, sighing. Why does he even bother trying to be hopeful?

They walk through Waterfall, and then stop at Hotland, entering Alphys's laboratory. "Boy does this take me back. Hey Sansy, how do you think the lizard offed herself? Hanging, perhaps? Bleh how unoriginal~"

Sans winces at the thought. Chara is talking like they weren't the ones to kill her, and he doubts she died by accident. They're positive she committed suicide, and he is too.

"I'd imagine she would still be alive if her friends weren't murdered before her eyes, with no hope of anyone saving them." Chara giggles, and, still holding onto the leash, begins rifling through Alphys' computer area. "Too bad you never tried."

"what are you looking for?" Sans asks, all too eager to try and change the subject.

"Anything interesting. Oooh! Like this! What is on these do you think?" Chara said, picking up a couple unmarked CD's.

"anime porn." Sans guesses without hesitation.

Chara ignores him, and takes a moment to try to figure out the computer, but finally get one of the CDs in and running. It's footage of them walking through Snowdin Forest. "Oooh!" Chara practically squeals, "Is this all footage of me killing!? How fun!"

Sans grows stiff immediately. His eyes turns black as he watches the screen. It shows Chara hunting, searching in bushes, and behind rocks, slaughtering anyone they can find. Then, they reach the end of Snowdin, and they confront Papyrus.

"Oooo, here comes the good part! Don't you agree Sansy?"

Sans shuts his eyes, breathing hard through his teeth. "turn it off."

"Oh Sansy, a movie is no fun if you don't watch it~ Open your eyes!"

His grin stretches, but it's a very weak one. "go to hell."

"Overrated, remember? But oh, it has been a while since I've seen your grin. Who knew all it took to make you smile was to force you to watch your brother die. And you call _me_ the sick freak."

"i've never killed anyone."

"No, but you let me kill them." Chara snickers, "Isn't that just as bad?"

Sans clenches his teeth and turns his head away. There's nothing he can say.

The sound of Papyrus turning to dust was quickly followed by Chara's laughter. "Oh man, I am so keeping these~"

"...you're sick."

"I know~" They sing proudly, as they begin to gather the CDs into their inventory.

"hope you're not expecting family movie night." Sans jokes weakly. He knows they are.

"Well of course I am, it is my favorite show afterall~"

"Mettaton had less of an ego than you."

"The old bucket of bolts was not even close to a challenge. Least interesting fight. Yours however, most fun I've ever had~"

Sans gives a sigh. "yeah. ya..kinda already gave your speech on that one."

Chara just grins and begins to walk Sans out of the lab, in the direction of Snowdin. He walks at a slow pace, not anxious to get back home to his dead brother's house. Chara tugs harder at the leash when he gets too slow, and eventually they make it back. "There, wasn't that a great walk?"

"no."

"Sure it was. Plus we found those fun videos." They say as they unhook the leash and untie his wrists.

"they're not 'fun'." Sans grumbles, reaching up to take off the collar.

They slap his hand. "Keep it on. I did not tell you to take it off."

"c'mon, kid...you're takin' this whole 'pet' joke a little too far…"

They snicker. "What makes you think this is a prank?"

"didn't say prank…" Sans says, avoiding the question. He's got no answer to it. He doesn't 'think' it's a joke he's just desperately hoping. His self-esteem was low enough before this timeline started but all of this demeaning treatment is somehow dragging him even lower.

"Does it look like I care about being technical?"

"doesn't look like you care about anything."

"Nonsense, Sans! I care about _you!_ " They smile brightly.

Sans grimaces and steps away from them, a shudder running down his spine. Chara grabs his chin and forces him to look at them. They squint at his face and give a hum. "You look tired, Sansy. Would you like to take a nap?"

Sans pulls his head back, watching them with narrowed eyes. "since when are you gonna let me sleep for more than five minutes?"

"Since right now, unless you would rather have movie night right now?" They ask.

Sans gives a shudder and looks away, shaking his head.

Chara smiles, and then waves. "Night night Sansy~"

Sans stifles a glare and keeps his head down, shuffling upstairs to his room and shutting the door. Promptly he unhooks the collar and tosses the stupid thing across the room, rubbing at his neck. He gives a grumble and then a weary sigh before collapsing onto his bed. He falls asleep immediately.

"Sansy~ Time to wake uuuup~ Breakfast is ready!"

Groaning quietly, Sans rolls over and faces the wall, pulling the blankets over his head.

"Sansy, that wasn't a suggestion~"

Sans gives a grumpy sigh and tumbles out of bed, pushing his way out of his bedroom and trudging down the stairs. He walks to the dining room table and sits down heavily, rubbing at his bare neck and trying to shake off the sleepiness.

"Where is your collar? Did I say you could take it off?"

"i've been putting up with a lotta crap from you, kid, but i gotta draw the line somewhere, alright?"

"You draw the line where I say to, go put it back on. Now!"

He glares at the table, clenching his fists and giving a huff, "don't yell at me." He growls.

"Then do as I say!"

" _Go to hell!"_ Sans snaps, standing up and glaring furiously at them, " _I'm not your fucking pet!"_

"Should I make another cut in the tape!?"

He looks down, still shaking in anger and saying nothing. He hates them. Holy _fuck_ does he hate this brat..

"Put on the collar, or the tape gets cut, and you don't get breakfast."

"...you know what? _go ahead_."

"Wow, you would really trade a collar for your brother? You really are sick." They say, grinning as they go to retrieve the tape from where they hid it.

"i know what Papyrus would want me to do." Sans snaps back.

"If you say so~" They call out, bringing the tape back into the living room, and starts to unravel it. Then they take out a pair of scissors.

"Last chance Sansy~" They say as they hold up the scissors to the film.

Sans just paces, rubbing at his temples and trying to vent his anger quietly.

"Very well~" They make a cut into it, then they hover the scissors over another piece. "Go put on the collar."

"go to hell."

 _Snip_

The piece of film falls to the ground, and Chara drops the tape and the scissors on the floor. "Looks like we will have to do things the hard way~"

Sans ignores them, assuming that they're just going to crush the case. If he's going to be here for 'forever' he might as well let the thing they're holding over his head get destroyed now rather than later.

Instead, they push him to the ground, pinning him, and take out rope from their inventory. They quickly tie his wrists behind his back. "Nobody is to tolerate a disobedient pet!" They get off of him and force him to his feet.

" _what the fuck_ let me _go Chara i've had enough of your stupid games let me_ _ **go**_ -!"

They start to yank him up the stairs. "Well, that is too bad for you, because I am having too much fun~"

Sans tries to throw them both down the stairs, but Chara predicts that and slams the back of his head against the banister, dazing him as they drag him the rest of the way.

They throw him to the floor as they pick up the collar. "Come here Sansy~"

Sans gets himself to his knees, breathing through his teeth. He's had _enough_ he wants to go home he wants to go on patrols with Papyrus and tell the same stupid jokes over and over, he wants to sneak off to Grillby's in the middle of his shift and fall asleep at his station in Hotland he wants to do his usual gig at the MTT Resort restaurant he wants to sleep and wake up to Papyrus scolding him he wants to go _home_ he hates this timeline he hates this kid he hates everything they're doing to him and he's had _enough_.

"You can do it Sansy!" They exclaim with mock cheer.

Sans whirls around and kicks them solidly in the face.

They fall to the ground, clutching their mouth, and spitting out blood. They fix a piercing glare on him. "You are going to regret that choice Sansy."

They swipe their foot underneath his feet, causing him to fall onto his back, and his bound wrists. They straddle him long enough to secure the collar on his neck, and to clasp the leash. He fights them as much as he can, yelling curses at them and trying to throw them off.

They shove a bar of dirty soap they picked up from the dump on their way home, into his mouth. "I think you need to watch your mouth and cool off!" The child scolds.

Sans spits it out, hacking at the awful taste and coughing heavily, "g-get _offa me you_ _ **freak**_ -!"

They shove the bar of soap back in his mouth, then they smirk as they get an idea. They pick up a nearby sock, and tie it around his mouth, keeping in the soap. Sans shakes his head violently, trying to jar the makeshift gag from around his jaw.

"Now I think you need a rinse~" The child gets off of him, and pulls him to his feet. "Come along now." They take the leash, and pull him down the stairs.

He barely stays upright as he's yanked forward and out the door, despite his protesting. Their LV makes them much physically stronger than him, and it's honestly no competition.

They lead him all the way to the river, and after making sure the collar was secure, they push him onto his knees and force his head into the icy water, holding the leash down. Sans struggles wildly, but their extra LOVE helps them keep him pinned down easily. He thrashes as he starts losing air, but before he can black out his head is yanked back up.

Watery soap enters his throat as he tries to inhale, causing him to sputter and gag. He barely gets enough air as his head is plunged back into the water. His anger is quickly fading out to be replaced by panic. Chara barely needs rest and can stay awake for days if they want. They could be planning to keep this up for who the hell knew how long.

Hours pass.

Finally they take his head out of the water before he can black out and don't immediately shove him back under. Mushy bits of the soap are floating around in his mouth, due to his reflexive teeth grinding. He coughs weakly, spitting up water and pieces of the detergent onto the snow. He's shivering violently and barely holding himself up on his elbows.

They remove his sock gag, and allow him to spit out the rest of the soap.

"Feeling a bit cooled off now?" They say with a giggle.

Sans nods weakly, shivering and coughing still as he gasps in air.

"Will you behave yourself, and obey me?"

"...y-y-yeah...s-s-sure th-th-thing.."

"I don't know if I believe you." They say as they dunk his head under again.

Sans gargles desperately and fights as best he can to pull his head back up. His attempts are pathetic to say the least. They yank him back out forcefully, jarring his head.

"g-gh _k_! hff...i..i-i-i-i'll b-b-behave m-m-myself i-i-i'll b-behave.." Sans gasps out, shutting his eyes and bracing himself to go back under anyway.

"Good, then let's head back home then." They say, pulling him to his feet, then yanking the leash and leading him back to the house.

It's a struggle to stay upright, since his legs are numb and shaky, and he feels like collapsing. But Sans decides to keep his complaints to a minimum since he has no doubt that Chara would gladly leave him in the river if he didn't feel like walking.

That doesn't keep him from falling to his face the moment he enters the house, however. Chara steps over him, grabbing his chin and forcing him to meet their eyes, "Did we learn a lesson today, Sansy?"

Sans looks away, giving a nod. He chokes as the leash is jerked, turning his gaze back to them, "y-y-yeah.." He says, noting that Chara doesn't like silence as a response.

"'Yeah' what?"

"i l-l-learned m-my lesson.." Sans clarifies, his chattering slowly dying down.

"Which is what?"

"...uh...don't misbehave..?"

"And what all does that entail?"

Sans swallows, "do..do what i'm told.."

"Which means what?" They tug the leash again to give a meaningful hint.

"...the collar stays on."

Chara smiles, "What does that make you, Sansy?"

Sans glances away, "...i dunno."

"Oh yes you do. Say it."

He hesitates.

" _Now._ "

Sans shuts his eyes, "...i'm...i'm the pet.."

Chara giggles and lets him put his face back to the ground, stroking the back of his head, "Good boy~"


	11. I Changed My Mind

Sans remains on the floor while Chara roams the house, doing aimless chores before finally resting on the couch.

"Wanna join me on the couch Sansy?"

Giving a loose shrug, Sans gets up from his sitting position on the floor and moves to sit on the opposite side of the sofa from them. Chara turns on the TV. The had inserted the CD with their fight with Undyne. Sans watches for a moment, and then closes his eyes. Chara turns up the volume, then relaxes on the couch, watching their victory on loop.

Sans covers his ears and ducks his head, trying his best to block it all out as Undyne slowly dies, staying brave until the end. No wonder Papyrus admired her so much. Sans wishes there was something admirable about himself that his younger brother could have looked up to. But he's just a coward.

Chara notices San's reaction, and smirks as they shift to face him. "What's the matter Sansy? You should be _glad_ to see your friends again~"

"not like this. _not like this._ turn it off."

"Sansy, are you being ungrateful _again_? I am giving you the chance to see your friends and family, and here you are complaining about it."

Sans is shaking. He takes in a sharp breath. "kid, please..."

"So, you don't want to see the friends and family that you let me kill. Wow, and you call me a freak."

Sans pulls away, huddling against the corner of the couch. "s-stop. stop _reminding_ me i already _know_ …"

"Still, I guess I should be grateful that we could have the best for last." They say with a snicker.

" _ha_...how..hehheh...how could i be the 'best' anything…?" Sans laughs weakly, putting his face in his hands and forcing himself to breathe calmly.

"Well, you were the hardest fight for a while there. You lost count, but I counted up to 387 resets to finally beat you for the first time, then about a hundred more just to memorize it completely, then 20 more to get bored."

"barely an obstacle.." Sans mutters, shutting one eye as he hears more monsters screaming.

"Hmm? You say something?" Chara asks curiously.

"in the end i didn't make much of a difference by fighting you. you didn't try to quit and RESET. you just took a little longer to get by me. that's all."

"No difference whatsoever." They say smugly.

Sans made a brief 'glad we're on the same page' gesture and slumped back against the arm of the couch, holding his hands over the sides of his head and watching his knees.

"Aww, Sansy doesn't want to participate in movie night? Well too bad. Sit up and watch." They say, grabbing his arm to pull him up.

Sans resists, trying to stay huddled against the corner of the sofa.

They pull harder, successfully pulling him up. "Don't ignore me Sansy~"

"i don't wanna watch.." He says weakly.

"Your wants hasn't mattered since Frisk first fell! Now watch."

Adjusting so that he's facing forward to the TV, Sans keeps his hood up and shuts his eyes, curling his hands into fists in his lap.

Of course they lean forward to see if he is actually watching.

"Sansy, you are being awfully rude. You never had this much of a problem watching before!" They pull his hood down.

He flinches and looks away from them.

"All those RESETS filled with me killing and you watching and suddenly you can't watch anymore? That is hypocritical Sans."

He knows he should be saying something, for the sake of not annoying the kid with silence if anything, but he can't. The moment he opens his mouth he's going to start crying. He can tell by the uncomfortable thickness in his throat.

"Look at me!"

Sans jolts a little at the sudden intensity of their voice, hesitantly turning his head towards them.

"I do not appreciate being ignored Sansy." They say, glaring.

He swallows, "..sorry…"

"You _will_ watch, because _I_ say so."

"...got it.." Sans gives a weary nod and turns his eyes back to the TV screen.

They rewind it again, to make up for the missed parts during the argument. Sans flinches with each fatal strike, breathing becoming noticeably staggered.

"Are you not happy Sansy? This is what you wanted after all~ at least that is what your actions have told me."

"this isn't what i w-wanted.." Sans feels something at the corner of his eye, and quickly brushes it off, "this is _not_...what..i wanted.." He says, slower and more forceful with each word.

"Coulda fooled me."

"you were...you were _supposed to RESET_." Sans bites his teeth and winces violently as Gerson is murdered - off script. Just like everything else now. "you were supposed to get bored of killing and eventually go to the surface, because at least it was _new_ …"

Chara laughs. "Things happen that are out of your control Sans. Shame I got bored of the wrong thing now didn't I?"

"it's not funny." Sans says through his teeth.

"Oh, but your ignorance is. Anyway, I wanted something new, I already have Frisk's memories of the peaceful timeline."

"this'll get old, y'know.." Sans takes a bit of comfort in that idea. "you'll get bored of me and then you'll RESET."

"Not for a long time. Now that you are off script I mean. This means I will always have something new!"

"it'll still get old." Sans insists, clinging to that one shred of hope that he has. "you'll get bored of me eventually, and then what? what'll you do then?" He rasps out a laugh, leaning forward a bit, "you'll just be bored again."

"Hmmm, maybe I will have to find a new toy... Papyrus intrigues me..." They say with a smirk.

Sans's grin drops, "...no."

They snicker. "You know, you are completely right. One day I will get bored. It is good to plan ahead after all."

"Chara, no. please no. not Papyrus. he doesn't...he doesn't deserve this please don't hurt him.."

"Well then make up your mind~ because he would be an interesting toy to break. I mean, you are already broken, but _him_... that ball of sunshine would be quite fun to extinguish."

"don't you _dare_ -!"

"Actually, now that I think about it, he would be wayyy more fun to play with then you..."

" _Chara d-_!" Sans stands up, but before he can think further about charging the child, they turn their gaze right to him and give him a warning look that makes him step back, "...p-please don't.."

"And you know he would never be able to kill me, unlike you."

"Chara _please_ -!"

"He would make a very loyal pet."

The meaningful look they give him tells him exactly what they want him to do. Sans shuts up the annoying voice of 'dignity' in his head and drops to his knees, head bowed. "k..k-keep me instead.."

"Why should I? You haven't exactly been obedient..."

"th-that'll change, Chara, i..i _swear_ i'll be better, _please_ …"

"Hmm, I dunno..."

' _lower.'_

Closing his eyes, Sans leans forward until his forehead is touching the floor, hands braced on either side, "...i w...i want to be your pet. please."

"Maybe you both can be my pets, and make _him_ take all the punishments while you watch."

"wh-what will it take to convince you? what do you want me to do i'll _do it_ just don't hurt my brother!"

"You are the one who was aching for me to get bored. But I will take you up on that offer. Understand, however - the minute I reset, is the minute Papyrus is my new pet. Deal?"

Sans nods, shutting his eyes, "..d-deal…"

"Don't worry, I promise I won't get bored for a long while~" They giggle, getting down on their knees in front of him and lifting up his head from the floor, "'Chin up', Sansy! We're going to have a lot of fun. I know that I will~"

Sans swallows, scared of the manically delighted look in their eye.

He _definitely_ knows that they'll be having a lot of fun…

Far, far too much..

* * *

 _ **A/N: OOOOHHH SHIITTT, SON! There's a game changer, nyeh? RESET means Papyrus suffers. Not RESET means Sans suffers and Papyrus is dead but otherwise unscathed.**_

 _ **Okay Part 1 is over but THERE WILL BE A PART 2 SO HOLD UR TIT-TAHS THERE'S MORE**_


End file.
